Jakarta – An alliance of human rights activists demanded Thursday the arrest of a former top intelligence officer for questioning around the 2004 murder of fellow rights campaigner Munir Said Thalib.
Former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy chief Muchdi Purwo Prandjono should be made a suspect in the case after his name was linked by a BIN agent to the murder, the alliance said.
Head of the Solidarity Action Committee For Munir (KASUM) Asmara Nababan said Muchdi should first be indicted on charges of perjury.
During a court session in 2005, Muchdi denied he knew or made telephone conversations with acquitted convict Pollycarpus Budihari Prijanto.
"If Muchdi has been named a suspect, prosecutors can proceed with further probes to find whether he is involved in the death of Munir or not," Asmara said. "And if Muchdi is involved, we want the investigation to proceed to reveal the roles of other officers in the assassination."
On Tuesday, prosecutors at the Central Jakarta District Court presented a written statement from BIN agent Budi Santoso proving Muchdi and former Garuda pilot Pollycarpus had established a relationship.
Budi failed to appear in court but in a written testimony said: "Pollycarpus called me several times asking whether Muchdi was at the office or not. I was also often ordered by Muchdi to check on where Pollycarpus was. When Pollycarpus came under investigation by the police, Muchdi also ordered me to give him between Rp 3 million to 4 million (around US$270 to $360) on two or three different occasions."
Pollycarpus, who was present at the court hearing, denied Budi's testimony.
KASUM secretary and coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Usman Hamid said the police should take Budi's testimony into serious consideration. The testimony also confirmed previously presented evidence including records of telephone conversations and short messages between Pollycarpus and Muchdi.
"Now that BIN agent Budi has upheld the discovery, the police should have no more excuse to name Muchdi a suspect," Usman said. "They should have even declared him a suspect once Budi provided prosecutors with the written statement."
During a Pollycarpus trial in November 2005, Muchdi, who was presented as a witness, denied he had made the telephone conversations or sent the short messages. He said someone else had used his mobile phone to contact Pollycarpus.
At the Thursday news conference, Munir's widow Suciwati said the fact-finding team, an ad-hoc agency formed by the government to probe Munir's death, had faced many difficulties in attempts to reveal the involvement of BIN in the case. "The investigation and evidence have clearly led us to an indication of BIN's involvement," she said.
"(The evidence indicates) at least the spy agency has provided facilities, such as telephones, for people implicated in the murder. And based on all the findings, the police and our judicial institutions should have no more reasons to avoid probing the BIN over the murder case," Suciwati said.
Munir, a vocal and staunch critic of the Indonesian Military (TNI) for its involvement in human rights violations across the country, was found dead on board a Garuda Indonesia flight on Sept. 7, 2004. A post mortem examination showed he died from arsenic poison.
To-date, the police have named three suspects – Pollycarpus, former Garuda president director Indra Setiawan and secretary to Garuda's chief pilot Rohainil Aini. (lln)