Jakarta – The Supreme Court convicted former Garuda chief secretary pilot Rohainil Aini on Tuesday for providing a fake assignment letter to off-duty pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto which helped him murder human rights activist Munir Said Thalib.
Rohainil was sentenced to one year in jail for violating Article 263 of the Criminal Code on letter forgery, which carries a maximum prison sentence of eight years.
The panel of justices, led by Artidjo Alkostar, said Rohainil signed the letter despite not having the authority to do so and also without consent from chief pilot Karmel Sembiring.
The verdict overturned the Central Jakarta District Court's ruling in February last year which acquitted Rohainil of all charges. State prosecutors appealed the acquittal immediately.
A verdict handed down by the Supreme Court is binding but a convicted criminal can seek a case review while serving his or her jail term.
In their deliberations, the justices said the Central Jakarta District Court based their decision on incorrect legal grounds.
The defendant made changes to Garuda's operational plans by allowing Pollycarpus to join the crew as a security officer on the flight taking Munir to Amsterdam. Munir was pronounced dead from a toxic dose of arsenic hours before the flight reached Amsterdam's Schipol airport on Sept. 7, 2004.
"The letter provided to Pollycarpus was neither part of the flight's operational plans nor did it fall under the responsibility of the defendant," the verdict stated.
A witness, Garuda crew manager Edi Susanto, told the court Pollycarpus could not have boarded the plane without the letter.
Former Garuda president director Indra Setiawan was also convicted in the Munir case. The Central Jakarta District Court found him guilty in February last year of abetting the remeditated murder and sentenced him to one year in jail.
The judges said Indra failed to cross-check a BIN assignment letter signed by deputy chief M. Asaad for Pollycarpus's duty as a corporate security officer at Garuda.
Rohainil's conviction Tuesday adds to the growing list of suspects being found guilty for their roles in the high-profile murder case, though four years on the real mastermind behind the assassination remains unidentified.
The charges come less than three weeks after the South Jakarta District Court exonerated former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy chief Muchdi Purwopranjono of any involvement in the murder.
The Attorney General's Office has challenged the ruling, citing a connection between Muchdi and Pollycarpus, who was sentenced to 20 years for the murder.
The court revealed 41 phone conversations occurred between Pollycarpus and Muchdi, but the latter claimed his aide looked after his phone. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed his support for an appeal against the Muchdi verdict.