Ida Indawati Khouw and Suherdjoko, Leiden/Semarang – Pressure is mounting both at home and overseas for the government to ensure that justice is done in the Munir murder case.
Dozens of people of various nationalities living in the Netherlands wore black armbands as they commemorated Munir's death at Leiden University on Monday and expressed support for the effort to expose the conspiracy behind the murder.
Munir died of arsenic poisoning aboard a Garuda Indonesia flight between Jakarta and Amsterdam on Sept. 7 last year.
During the rally, the Dutch, Sri Lankan, American, Singaporean, Japanese and other communities joined Indonesian students in denouncing the apparent impunity enjoyed by the masterminds behind Munir's assassination.
"We urge President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to continue giving his support until the real culprits are arrested and brought to justice. We would encourage the President to face up to those who orchestrated Munir's murder," Indonesian student Marcia Wibowo said, reading from a joint statement.
The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) in Indonesia, the Sapu Lidi Foundation, a group of Indonesians in the Netherlands, the Australia-based Inside Indonesia journal and several Dutch parliamentarians also signed the statement.
The students also urged the Dutch government to help Indonesia in identifying the masterminds behind the murder.
"We hope the international community, especially the Netherlands, will apply pressure for Indonesia to resolve the mystery surrounding Munir's death. The Dutch government has a moral responsibility to help ensure justice for Munir. However, we regret to see that it seems to be paying more attention to maintaining its political relationship with Indonesia," said the event's coordinator, Farid Wadjidi. "We call for international solidarity."
A fact-finding team formed by Susilo linked the murder to the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), but both the police and prosecution service have so far failed to take the finding on board. Three Garuda employees have been named suspects, with one of them, Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, now standing trial on charges of premeditated murder.
The Dutch government has been criticized for its apparently lackluster support for the investigation into Munir's death.
Munir's wife, Suciwati, only received the autopsy report produced by the Dutch authorities, which concluded the Munir died of arsenic poisoning, after 10 weeks, while according to some experts it only takes two to four hours to detect excessive arsenic through a Reinsch Test. Many have also regretted that the Dutch authorities handed over the autopsy report to the Indonesian government, instead of to Suciwati.
Dutch parliamentarian Farah Karimi from small Groenlinks (Green Left) party agreed that the Dutch government should also take responsibility for solving the case "since it is a human rights issue." In Semarang, a group of people representing the Society against State Violence organization marched from the center of the city to the provincial legislature to demand a thorough investigation into Munir's death.
"The case has not been properly investigated, although Pollycarpus is now standing trial. The question of who was behind the murder is still a mystery," one of the protesters said.
The group's leader, Winarso, said Munir's assassination proved that the nation was still not free of state violence despite gaining independence 60 years ago.