Jakarta – Unidentified men fired shots at the headquarters of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) last night but there were no reports of injuries, witnesses said.

They said three bullets shattered the windows of a car parked outside the Central Jakarta building when the shooting took place at about 7.25pm. The owner of the Daihatsu Zebra vehicle was identified as Deddy, director of the Legal Aid Institute's chapter in Surabaya, East Java.

Prominent human rights lawyer Munir, who is deputy head of YLBHI and founder of the respected Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), was inside the building, which also houses the Kontras office, when the shooting occurred.

He had returned from a meeting with Attorney General Marzuki Darusman a few hours before the gunfire. He was told by witnesses that the shots were fired from an open-backed utility truck believed to be driven by a policeman. Munir said that according to witnesses, the truck was carrying about 10 policemen and the shots were deliberate.

He denied the shooting was related to the conviction of former president Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, who is under a police manhunt, having disappeared to avoid an 18-month jail term for corruption. Munir said the incident could be linked to the human rights activities of Deddy. He did not elaborate further.

Police arrived at the scene five minutes after the shooting. Jakarta Police spokesman Superintendent Nur Usman said investigators had not yet found evidence that the shots came from the passing police truck. He said the bullets fired at the parked car had not been identified.