Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – A case review on the 2004 murder of rights activist Munir Said Thalib will open up the possibility of charging the National Intelligence Body (BIN) with a systemic crime, an NGO says.
Usman Hamid from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said Wednesday the new investigation into the case could reveal what had not been uncovered in previous trials.
"The review of the case [in the new trials] should be able to show how the intelligence chief was involved. New trials can uncover new things, such as different motives.
"The old trials looked at Munir's death as an individual crime, a personal revenge against Munir. But a new investigation could lead to proving that Munir's murder was a systemic crime," he told The Jakarta Post.
Further investigation, he said, may even prove that Munir was assassinated.
Human rights activist Munir died of arsenic poisoning on board a Garuda Indonesia flight to Amsterdam in September 2004. Former BIN deputy chief Muchdi Purwopranjono was accused of masterminding the murder.
The South Jakarta District Court acquitted Muchdi in late December 2008, while prosecutors filed an appeal to the Supreme Court against the decision.
The Supreme Court rejected the appeal in June 2009, saying the prosecutors failed to convince the panel of justices there had been any mistake in Muchdi's acquittal.
A public examination team was set up in February last year by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to verify the court verdict that acquitted Muchdi. On Tuesday, the team made public its finding and recommended a new investigation into the case to allow for a case review.
"The legal process, from the beginning to the end, reduced the construction of several facts that would lead to the alleged involvement of certain parties, including the BIN and national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia," the team's report says.
The team also says the investigators, prosecutors and judges in the case had played a role in reducing the facts.
"Should the [new] investigation be taken to court, the court and the Supreme Court should appoint more credible judges who have integrity, are impartial and different from the previous judges," the team says.
A lawyer for Muchdi, Wirawan Adnan, however said that a case review would not have a legal basis. "The truth is, there has been no new evidence found," he said.