Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – Prosecutors and police said Friday they would file for a review of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the conviction of the pilot convicted of the murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib.
Both the National Police and the Attorney General's Office said they were certain that pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto was involved in the 2004 murder on board a Garuda Indonesia flight.
Despite his early release from prison last Monday, Pollycarpus must not escape justice, they said, adding that they would work to uncover the truth behind the case.
However, Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh could not say when he would submit the final appeal against the conviction overturning to the Supreme Court.
In 2005, Pollycarpus was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the poisoning death of Munir aboard a Garuda flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam via Singapore two years ago.
The Supreme Court overturned the verdict in November but jailed him for two years for falsifying flight documents. He was freed Monday after receiving a three-month sentence reduction.
On Thursday, the pilot pleaded his innocence in the case, saying he was victimized and doubted that Munir was actually murdered. "Polly could say Munir was not killed. We are convinced he was," the attorney general said.
"A doctor in the Netherlands said a large dose of arsenic, which is a deadly poison, was found (in Munir's body). How did the poison get there? Did he consume it? We believe he didn't drink it. He was poisoned," he added. "Big questions (about Pollycarpus) still remain," he said. "We will go after him."
Abdul Rahman said the murder trial revealed facts that linked Pollycarpus to Munir's death. "Why did he falsify the documents? Why did he call up Munir's wife (before boarding)? Why did he offer Munir to exchange their seats? Those questions are still left unanswered," he said.
According to evidence heard during the trial, the pilot, who was off-duty on the flight, swapped his business class seat for Munir's economy class one.
Separately, National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. Makbul Padmanegara said the pilot's release did not mean he would escape the law. "The Supreme Court ruled that he was guilty of only falsifying the flight documents. Why did he do that?" he asked.
Later in the day, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono led a meeting with National Police chief Gen. Sutanto, State Intelligence Agency (BIN) head Syamsir Siregar and Abdul Rahman to discuss the Munir case.
The murder implicated former top BIN officials, according to a report from a fact-finding team sanctioned by the government, but none of them were charged.
Syamsir said after the Friday meeting that BIN would fully cooperate with the police in finding the killers of Munir. The police could again summon former BIN chief Hendropriyono and deputy Muchdi PR for questioning about the case, he said.
"They have been summoned for questioning before. The police could question them again if they want to," Syamsir said, as quoted by detik.com news portal.
Syamsir said BIN had submitted a transcript of phone conversations between Pollycarpus and Muchdi to the police for investigation. The documents are currently being analyzed by the FBI in the United States.