Jakarta – Indonesia's attorney general has filed an appeal against a court decision last month in which a former top intelligence official was acquitted of the murder of a human rights activist, an official said on Monday.

The acquittal of Muchdi Purwoprandjono, a former deputy chief of the National Intelligence Agency, of the murder of activist Munir Thalib, prompted widespread criticism.

The case was seen as a test of Indonesia's commitment to rule of law and state accountability, and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had promised that justice would be done when he was elected in 2004.

Jasman Pandjaitan, a spokesman for the attorney-general's office, said that a detailed appeal, related to the murder of Munir, would be sent to the South Jakarta district court within 14 days.

"Our objection is the panel of judges' verdict which acquitted Muchdi (Purwoprandjono) was not based on court evidence," Pandjaitan told reporters.

Munir died of arsenic poisoning on board a flight from Singapore to Amsterdam in 2004.