The case review on the Munir case may implicate high-ranking officials from the State Intelligence Agency (BIN). The police plan to bring in a number of key witnesses who will confirm BIN's involvement. They plan to tell the judges about the various scenarios devised to get rid of Munir, the activist. The pieces of the puzzle are slowly being assembled. Can this giant mystery finally be put together and the mastermind put behind bars?
The two men had different backgrounds. One was a former CEO of a state-owned company, the other was a former activist, once a photographer. One hailing from "the hills" and the other from "the sea," the two last week a shared common ground at the Central Jakarta District Court. In the court's third-floor waiting room, they were surrounded by six policemen dressed in short-sleeved dress jackets and carrying M-16 rifles. Two guarded the door, two stood in the middle of the room, and two others watched the stairs. Scores of officers from the Antiterrorism Unit stood by outside the room.
The first man in question was Indra Setiawan, Garuda Indonesia's former CEO. At the age of 56, his face was fresh and his body erect, despite being detained at the National Police Headquarters since April. The other was a feeble 35-year-old named Raden Muhammad Patma Anwar alias Ucok. He admitted to the police that he was a junior member of BIN, the State Intelligence Agency.
The case review of the murder case of activist Munir, which is being held one floor below the waiting room, was to bring Indra and Ucok together on the same stage. Both of them had mentioned BIN's role in an operation to eliminate Munir, on September 7, three years ago. Unfortunately, just before lunch, the judge recessed the hearing at the request of the defense team. Under heavy police guard, the two were escorted from the court.
The testimony of these two has been the basis for the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to file for a review of this case. Earlier, last October, the Supreme Court acquitted Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, a senior Garuda pilot indicted in the case, releasing him from a 14-year prison term handed down in a lower court.
July 2003, two months before Munir's death. At the Bengawan Solo restaurant on the ground floor of Sahid Hotel, Jakarta, Indra Setiawan, who had just met with some colleagues, quickly headed for Pollycarpus's table. The two shook hands. He had agreed to meet this pilot, whom he had known since 2003. "He asked for a chance to talk to me about something connected with flight operations," Indra told investigators on June 4, as related by a Tempo source.
After some small talk, Pollycarpus laid out various weaknesses in Garuda's flight operations. According to Indra, Pollycarpus, for instance, mentioned the high number of passengers who hid their passports in order to seek asylum in other countries. He also mentioned the existence of stowaway passengers without tickets and flight crew members who often smuggled illegal goods.
Pollycarpus, according to Indra, speaking to the police, said that he was willing to take care of the problem. Then he gave a sealed envelope to Indra. It contained an official classified letter from BIN, which was addressed to him as CEO of Garuda.
According to Indra, the letter was signed by M. As'ad, BIN deputy chief, with a copy sent to the State-Owned Enterprises Department. It was written in the letter that Garuda was a company which was vital and strategic, and that its security needed to be upgraded. "For this, Pak As'ad asked that Pollycarpus be given an assignment as aviation security," said Indra to police.
To Tempo, Pollycarpus denied this meeting took place. "Pilots and CEOs are far from each other. It would not be easy for me to meet with Pak Indra, especially if it was at Sahid Hotel and not at the office," he said. This conflicting testimony between a CEO and a subordinate led Mohammad Assegaf to resign from his position as Indra's lawyer. Now he is only legal counsel for Pollycarpus.
On August 11, 2004, Indra issued a letter assigning Pollycarpus as a support staff in the corporate security unit. Four duties were given to Pollycarpus, among them recommending solutions to various problems, especially those connected with flight security and internal affairs at Garuda. Such an assignment was uncommon at Garuda, because it was given without the involvement of the personnel department.
Based on this letter, Pollycarpus changed his flight schedule on September 6, 2004. He was initially scheduled to fly to Peking, China, on that day. However, he switched to Garuda Flight 974 to Singapore. This was the flight Munir boarded on his journey to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. On board, Pollycarpus offered his executive class seat to Munir, who was sitting in economy class.
Police accuse Pollycarpus of moving Munir to an executive seat so that the activist could quickly disembark from the plane while in transit at Changi Airport, Singapore. In this way, there would be more time to kill Munir. If he had been in economy class, it would have taken 10-15 minutes to exit the plane.
In court, Pollycarpus testified that he immediately headed for the Novotel Apollo Hotel together with the other crew members after the plane landed in Changi. However, as reported in the case review, there are two witnesses who saw him stay in the transit area together with Munir. The two are Asrini Utami Putri, an Indonesian university student in Germany seated in 2J, and Raymond "Ongen" Latuihamallo, a musician who sat in 50H.
To the police, Asrini testified she saw Pollycarpus, Munir, and Ongen at the Coffee Bean cafe. They sat facing the smoking area and the moneychanger. Ongen said he saw Pollycarpus leaving the counter, carrying two drinks. After that, according to Ongen, Pollycarpus and Munir were seen talking and drinking.
This testimony by Asrini and Ongen was also admitted as new evidence by the prosecutors in order to bring charges against Pollycarpus. It is suspected that the meeting at the Coffee Bean was the point at which the arsenic was ingested by Munir. This is why, a half-hour later, when the plane was about to take off for Amsterdam, he began to complain of an upset stomach.
At an altitude of 40,000 feet over the skies of Romania, seven hours after takeoff, Munir lay on the floor covered with a blanket, drooling. His hands were cold and turning blue. He died on board the flight.
Raden Patma's telephone rang on the afternoon of September 7, 2004. An activist informed him that Munir had died on a Garuda plane. He immediately forwarded the news to Sentot Waluyo, a young BIN agent, who told him: "Who cares if Munir is dead."
"Pak Sentot's office [is] at Building K, Directorate 22, second floor, near the bathroom, near the deer cages. I often made reports at his office," said Raden alias Ucok to police, relayed by a Tempo source. He wanted to give the impression to the police that he was very familiar with how things were done at BIN.
Ucok was not surprised by Munir's death. He admitted to the police that he had already been involved in the plan to murder Munir. The plan was to observe and monitor, terrorize, use black magic, and poison him. "Munir had to be killed before the presidential election because he posed a threat," he said, as written in the police investigation file.
The operation, according to Ucok, involved, among others, Manunggal Maladi, BIN deputy chief for domestic investigation affairs, and Wahyu Saronto, deputy for counter-intelligence affairs. He even said that he went with Wahyu Saronto and Sentot to look for the home of paranormal Ki Gendeng Pamungkas in Baranangsiang, Bogor. "But we didn't find it," he said. To Koran Tempo, in February 2005, Manunggal verified knowing Sentot and Ucok. "Sentot is indeed one of my men. However, institutionally speaking, neither I nor Sentot planned to get rid of Munir. Ucok was only an informant of Sentot. In 2003, he once wanted to harass Munir, but Sentot forbid him from doing so," said Manunggal. Wahyu Saronto could not be contacted for confirmation.
BIN chief Syamsir Siregar rejected Ucok's admission. "He is not from BIN. He was just arrested and he made up a story," he stressed. Abdullah Makhmud Hendropriyono, the BIN chief in September 2004, also denied this testimony. "Resorting to black magic is not a part of our culture," he said.
Mention of Ucok and Sentot was actually made in an internal discussion of the Fact-Finding Team (TPF) for the Munir case, a body which was established by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) to get to the bottom of the mysterious death. Moreover, a retired general who is presently a high-ranking state official, leaked information to the TPF about four scenarios which intelligence had prepared in order to murder Munir. The four methods were to poison him, to use black magic, a traffic accident, or a bombing. Unfortunately, "We were not able to concretely identify those scenarios, including the people who were said to be involved," said Asmara Nababan, deputy head of the TPF. Furthermore, at that time, the police still appeared reluctant to resolve the Munir murder case. In the end, those new names just disappeared.
A Tempo source in BIN said that Ucok was recruited by Sentot, who at that time was BIN 1st chief for domestic investigation affairs. However, according to the source, Ucok's credibility is doubted for suggesting to his superiors about making false-flag operations on several occasions. To counter Ucok, BIN will reportedly send Sentot's written testimony to police. Where is Sentot right now? It is not clear. One source informed us that Sentot is now on assignment in Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta. However, Tempo's efforts to track him down in that area ran into a dead end. Ucok, who was met at the Central Jakarta District Court, refused to comment. He kept quiet when Tempo asked him questions.
Indra Setiawan began to panic two months after Munir's death, when it was confirmed that the activist died from arsenic poisoning. He told Pollycarpus that he wanted to meet and be introduced to M. As'ad. "Fine, Pak. I will contact him and ask him to give you a chance to meet him," said Polly, as quoted by Indra, testifying to the police.
A few days later, Pollycarpus informed him that he would be received at the BIN office in East Pejaten, South Jakarta. At their headquarters, Indra said that he was met by someone whom he recently discovered was Muchdi Purwoprandjono, BIN deputy head for stabilization. A few moments later As'ad joined them.
Indra said that he wanted to ask As'ad about Pollycarpus's letter of assignment. However, because of Muchdi, he changed his mind. "I didn't know him, so I didn't mention the letter about Pollycarpus," explained Indra.
After being questioned by police as a witness in early 2005, Indra said that he once contacted As'ad. He asked: "Pak, why is this happening? Why is Garuda being brought into it?" According to Indra, As'ad replied: "It's nothing. Just relax. No need for you to worry. It will be cleared up later."
To the police, Indra said that he also contacted As'ad to ask about the file copy of the letter sent to him. As'ad replied by promising to check on it. A few days later, when they met at the Shangri-La Hotel, As'ad confirmed to Indra that the file copy of the letter on Pollycarpus had been destroyed.
Indra also admitted to making calls to Muchdi on several occasions – when Garuda officials were being questioned, when Pollycarpus was under arrest, and when the prosecutors demanded a verdict of death or life in prison for Pollycarpus. According to Indra, Muchdi replied calmly: "It's nothing. It will be cleared up later, Pak Indra."
Where was the classified letter from As'ad to Indra Setiawan? According to Indra, the letter vanished when someone broke into his BMW car parked at the Sahid Hotel, on Friday, December 31, 2004. He said that the letter was kept in a bag, together with a stack of bills, magazines, pens, a short cane and some gemstones.
The letter was lost in the same location where Indra had received it from Pollycarpus, namely the Sahid Hotel. This five-star hotel was a favorite of Indra's when he needed to meet with his colleagues. "He would go there two or three times a week," said Antawirya J. Dipodiputro, his lawyer.
A security guard at the Sahid Hotel, who was on duty at that time verified the theft. "I immediately contacted the Tanah Abang Police, because this was a crime. In addition to the police, security officers from Garuda contacted by Pak Indra, also arrived," he told Tempo.
Unfortunately, Tempo has not been able to receive any confirmation from As'ad or Muchdi. No one answered the telephone when they were contacted. Those known to be close to him were also unwilling to put Tempo in contact with him. M. Luthfie Hakim, Muchdi P.R.'s legal advisor, denied the meeting took place. "I heard from Pak Muchdi that the meeting never took place," he said. BIN chief Syamsir Siregar made a stronger statement. "There was never a letter from Pak As'ad. How can we give an order to a [CEO of an] SOE," he said.
The testimony of Indra and Ucok, the main witnesses in the prosecutor's case, is sure to be rejected by BIN officials and Pollycarpus's lawyer in court. In the meantime, the two will remain heavily guarded by men carrying M-16s.
– Budi Setyarso