Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Prosecutors are still deciding whether or not to file for a review of a Supreme Court ruling that saw a former intelligence official acquitted of all charges related to the murder of a prominent human rights activist.

The Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed by prosecutors against the South Jakarta District Court decision in December 2008 to clear Muchdi Purwopranjono of all charges for his alleged role in the murder of Munir Said Thalib in September 2004.

"We have not received a copy of the ruling," Junior Attorney General for General Crimes, Abdul Hakim Ritonga, told journalists Monday. "If we had received it, we would have been going over the procedure to identify whether or not we could file a review of this case."

He denied accusations that prosecutors were not employing all their skills to prepare the appeal for the Supreme Court, claiming he himself edited the legal draft and had overseen other aspects of the case.

"As far as I remember, we included all the necessary evidence and legal considerations to show the district court had not tried this case correctly," he said.

Supreme Court spokesman Hatta Ali said earlier that the court had found prosecutors failed to convince the panel of justices that the South Jakarta District Court wrongly tried the case.

Now the only option left for the prosecutors is to file a case review of the Supreme Court's rejection.

However, in order for that rejection to be successfully appealed, prosecutors would have to either identify inconsistencies in the legal considerations taken by judges, or significant new evidence that would question the integrity of the prior decisions.

Rights activist Hendardi criticized the judges at the Supreme Court for lacking the motivation to uncover the truth behind the murder of this prominent activist.

"This rejection is concrete evidence that the justices are only concerned with formal legal materials," he said. "The justices should have examined the logistical links between Muchdi and the murder that has been presented in evidence throughout the trial."

Hendardi said prosecutors were faced with no other choice but to conduct a thorough examination of the case to establish any legal weaknesses in the ruling and find strong new evidence into the murder that could link Muchdi to those who have already been sentenced to prison.

"We will assist prosecutors in finding that new evidence. We will still fight for this case no matter how hard the struggle will be," he said.

Muchdi is a retired Army general accused of masterminding the murder of Munir. He was a deputy chief at the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) when the murder took place. Munir died on board a Garuda Indonesia flight en route to Amsterdam from arsenic poisoning.

So far three people besides Muchdi have been tried in this case. Former Garuda secretary Rohainil Aini was acquitted, while former Garuda pilot Polycarpus Budihari Priyanto was sentenced to 20 years in prison and Garuda president director Indra Setiawan was sentenced to 16 years in jail.