Ridwan Max Sijabat and Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Jakarta/Malang – A human rights group is suing flagship airline Garuda Indonesia over the 2004 death of leading activist Munir Said Thalib, while his bereaved family and colleagues are demanding the formation of a new, independent team to determine who was behind the murder.
Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) lawyer Asfinawati said the lawsuit was filed Wednesday at the Central Jakarta District Court. It accuses the national airline of "negligence" leading to the death of the human rights campaigner. "Garuda has failed to protect its consumers, in this case Munir," she said Thursday.
Asfinawati, also Director of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, said Garuda should pay a total of Rp 13.7 billion (US$1.5 million) in compensation for the death, including Rp 4.7 billion in material losses and Rp 9 billion in non-material losses.
Joining hundreds of activists in a rally here Thursday to mark the second anniversary of the murder, Munir's widow Suciwati said she and rights campaigners would write to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urging him to launch a new independent team immediately to probe the case.
Unlike the previous government-sanctioned team, Suciwati said, the new one should be empowered to summon all people widely suspected of being involved in the murder, including former intelligence officers.
"We came here to seek justice. Justice for Munir means justice for all, and the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has not yet been able to give it to us," Suciwati said in a speech to the protesters outside National Police Headquarters in South Jakarta.
Wearing red T-shirts bearing Munir's picture on the front and the words "Killed because of the truth" on the back, the demonstrators moved to the State Palace in Central Jakarta and the nearby Supreme Court.
Kontras coordinator Usman Hamid said a new team should include police, prosecutors and members of the National Commission on Human Rights. "Munir's assassination is a conspiracy involving Garuda and BIN (National Intelligence Agency) officers," he told the protesters.
Munir was killed on Sept. 7, 2004 in the business-class cabin of a Garuda flight from Jakarta to the Netherlands, where he was to continue his studies. A Dutch autopsy found a lethal dose of arsenic in his blood.
Last year a Garuda pilot, Pollycarpus Priyanto, who was on the flight but off-duty, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for lacing Munir's drink with arsenic. He is appealing the sentence.
Munir's older brother Mufid called on Pollycarpus' wife to join forces with Suciwati in pursuit of justice. "This is because both Pollycarpus and Munir are victims of a well-planned conspiracy," Mufid said in Malang, East Java.
A fact-finding team established by the President concluded the evidence suggested the assassination was carried out in a conspiracy involving BIN. The team reported it had uncovered telephone contacts between Pollycarpus and a former senior BIN official before and after the murder.
Yudhoyono last year promised Suciwati he would do everything in his power to bring those responsible to justice. However, only Pollycarpus has been convicted thus far.
National Police chief Gen. Sutanto has said it will be difficult to uncover the plot unless Pollycarpus, who is suspected of being an intelligence officer, is ready to cooperate. Police interrogated former BIN chief A.M. Hendropriyono but claimed they had no evidence to charge him, while his former deputy, Muhdi P.R., testified at Pollycarpus' trial. Both Hendropriyono and Muhdi denied any wrongdoing.
The pursuit of justice in the Munir case received support Thursday in a letter from human rights defenders in Thailand.
"The failure to bring the persons responsible for the death of such a prominent human rights activist before the justice system sends a message that human rights defenders are very vulnerable and not safe from harm," the letter said. "It also suggests a climate of impunity".