Time is up for BIN agents 'to clarify'

Time is up for BIN agents 'to clarify'

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Former BIN chief A.M. Hendropriyono has missed his chance to
clarify the facts obtained by the fact-finding team investigating
the murder of rights campaigner Munir, as the Thursday deadline
set by the team has passed.

Speaking at a press conference held at the team's office on
Jl. Latuharhary in Central Jakarta, deputy chairman of the team
and rights activist Asmara Nababan said Hendropriyono's failure
to respond to summonses would not be left out of the team's
report to the President.

"We will also consider that he (Hendropriyono) does not
dispute any of the facts obtained by the team, and that the team
shouldn't have to seek (further) clarification from him," Asmara
said.

A similar stance has been taken regarding other BIN agents,
including former deputy BIN chief Maj. Gen. (ret) Muchdi PR and
Col. (ret) Bambang Irawan.

Asmara said the team had fixed its investigation on several
suspects but refused to disclose their names.

The team's secretary-general, Usman Hamid, said several BIN
officials had had an incriminating involvement in the murder,
"but we don't have the authority to name this person or that
person as suspects."

Separately, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar promised
to follow up the team's recommendations, and "if it is necessary,
we (the police) can summon Hendropriyono for clarification."

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono set up the team on Dec. 23
to assist with the police's investigation of the murder.

Many people have linked BIN to the murder as Pollycarpus
Budihari Priyanto, the only suspect to be detained so far, is
believed to be a BIN agent.

The team has summoned Hendropriyono -- who headed the
intelligence institution when Munir was murdered -- three times,
and Thursday's deadline was the last chance for Hendropriyono,
who is alleged to have known about the murder, to clarify as the
team will make its final recommendations to the President on June
23.

The team will also detail in its report problems faced while
accessing related documents at BIN's office, despite a signed
protocol between the team and the current BIN Chief Maj. Gen.
(ret) Syamsir Siregar.

The team is seeking to clarify seven documents, including --
according to a reliable source -- a list of BIN employees and
agents, reports on BIN's weaponry and BIN's storage facility for
weapons, as well as records on the handover of the BIN secretary-
general post from Nurhadi Djazuli to Soeparto.

Nurhadi, whose ambassadorial assignment was suspended
following the case, is believed to be the BIN official "who
recruited and introduced Pollycarpus to BIN's top authorities."

Separately, Hendropriyono's lawyer Maj. Gen. (ret) Syamsu
Djalal said there was still time for the team to question his
client, even though the team had not shown up when Hendropriyono
invited it to his office.

Earlier, the team disclosed that based on documents found
during the investigation, there had been four attempts to murder
Munir. The first attempt was to kill Munir while in a car,
presumably through a road accident, while the second method was
to use black magic. The third and the fourth methods were similar
in that they both involved the poisoning of Munir, but only the
fourth method succeeded, which involved the poisoning of Munir
with arsenic on board a Garuda Indonesia flight from Jakarta to
Amsterdam on Sept. 7 last year.