Jakarta – Lawmakers are putting pressure on the National Police to summon ex-top intelligence officers in a bid to find the masterminds of the murder of human rights campaigner Munir Said Thalib.
They said Sunday the probe on former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy chief Muchdi Purwopranjono, who was detained last Thursday, should lead to the revelation of an alleged "grand conspiracy" in the murder case.
Mahfudz Siddiq, who chairs the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) faction in the House of Representatives, said the police must question other former BIN top officers
"The police must first prove Muchdi's involvement in the murder. If they find any further evidence during investigations into Muchdi, which may show the implication of other BIN leaders, they should follow-up by summoning them," he said. Should the evidence be discovered, he added, the police could proceed with the investigation by questioning former president Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Mahfudz argued the summons for Megawati, who currently leads the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), was plausible because the assassination incident took place during her administration.
PDI-P faction secretary-general Gandjar Pranowo made a similar call for the police to unravel the masterminds behind the murder.
"The police must dig deeper for more information from Muchdi about other parties which may have conspired with him to carry out the murder. I believe if the police do their best, the conspiracy could eventually be disclosed," he added.
Soeripto, deputy chief of House Commission III for legal affairs, who is also a former BIN officer, alleged the Munir murder was planned at an internal BIN meeting in 2004, which was then led by A.M. Hendropriyono. "The meeting resulted in Munir's elimination," Soeripto said, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.
Hendropriyono has repeatedly dismissed allegations of playing a key role in the murder of Munir, who was poisoned to death on Sept. 7, 2004, on board a Garuda flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam via Singapore.
Prominent military expert Kusnanto Anggoro suggested the BIN help reveal the mystery behind the high-profile murder case. "After the detention of Muchdi, former and current BIN officers should act cooperatively with the investigation team if they are summoned to testify," he said.
Muchdi's lawyers are planning to request a detention suspension some time this week under the responsibility of his wife, children and some public leaders, including Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin.
However, Din refused to back Muchdi. "I, as the Muhammadiyah leader, have often received requests to support many parties. But we have no tradition of doing such a thing, so we cannot do so now," he said. (nkn)