SBY wants man behind Munir's murder nabbed
SBY wants man behind Munir's murder nabbed
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered law enforcement
officials to continue their investigation into the murder of
human rights activist Munir to determine who orchestrated the
killing.
Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said the order,
coming a day after a Garuda pilot was sentenced to 14 years in
jail for his role in the murder, was specifically addressed to
the police, the National Intelligence Agency and the Attorney
General's Office.
"It is not easy to unravel the conspiracy behind Munir's
murder, but the President has ordered all relevant institutions
to continue investigating the case until the mastermind of the
murder is punished," Andi said on Wednesday.
Andi said the President delivered his order directly to
National Police chief Gen. Sutanto shortly after a meeting in
Surabaya late on Tuesday night.
"The President said a successful investigation of the case
would determine the credibility of his administration. He
underlined that whoever was responsible for the murder must be
punished," the spokesman said.
The Central Jakarta District Court sentenced on Tuesday Garuda
pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto to 14 years in jail for his
part in Munir's murder.
The panel of judges said they did not sentence the defendant
to life imprisonment, as demanded by the prosecution, because
they believed there were others behind the killing of the rights
campaigner.
Munir was poisoned aboard a Garuda flight bound for Amsterdam
in September last year. He died about two hours before the plane
landed.
The judges said the murder was likely related to Munir's
criticism of the government, the military and the country's
intelligence agencies.
National Police chief Gen. Sutanto responded to the
President's order by saying he expected Pollycarpus and the
public to provide authorities with more information about the
murder.
Sutanto, who took over his post in July, said the police
investigation was hampered by the fact that they did not have
access to the crime scene.
Dutch authorities conducted an autopsy on Munir's body and a
preliminary investigation into the murder, including questioning
several witnesses.
Sutanto, however, said officers were moving ahead with the
investigation. "We have made some progress in investigating the
case," he was quoted as saying by Antara.
Separately, human rights activists urged the President to set
up an independent team under his direct supervision to oversee
the investigation, saying "a crime involving this kind of
conspiracy could not be solved using traditional methods".
They also asked the President to follow up on a report
submitted to him by a now defunct fact-finding team set up by the
government to investigate Munir's murder.
"The team recommended that several National Intelligence
Agency (BIN) officials be questioned in connection with the
case," rights activist Hendardi, who was part of the fact-finding
team, said on Wednesday.
After officially taking over the investigation from the fact-
finding team, the police questioned former BIN deputy chief Maj.
Gen. (ret) Muchdi Purwopranjono and BIN secretary-general Nurhadi
Djazuli. Muchdi testified at Pollycarpus' trial as a witness.