Jakarta – The National Police said Tuesday that they would not allow a United Nations representative to take part in the investigation of the murder of human rights campaigner Munir, despite it being an international case.
It is not clear whether the decision could mean that Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, will be denied entry to Indonesia. National Police chief Gen. Sutanto said that the UN's involvement was out of the question because it would undermine the country's law enforcement process.
"This is our sovereignty... we want no foreigners interfering in the process," he said at police headquarters. He said assistance would be preferred in the form of technical aid, such as DNA testing.
Alston's announcement that he would press Jakarta to refresh the investigation came after his meeting with Munir's widow, Suciwati, in Washington two weeks ago. Suciwati traveled to the US for 10 days US to seek support from international human rights bodies and Congress. Alston said he planned to come to Indonesia after writing to President Yudhoyono for approval.
The police have said they are now working to gather new evidence, although they have not said what they are looking for.
Munir died aboard a Garuda Indonesia flight to Amsterdam on Sept. 7, 2004. An autopsy found an excessive level of arsenic in his body.
The initial investigation lead to allegations that officials at the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) were involved. Only one person has ever been arrested, Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto.
Pollycarpus was originally sentenced to 14 years in prison for forging papers and the murder of Munir. The sentence was recently reduced to two years by the Supreme Court, which upheld the forgery charge but quashed the murder conviction, amid much controversy.
During her trip to the US, Suciwati received an award from non-governmental organization Human Rights First and spoke about her husband's murder. She also met with several US Congressmen, who, according Usman Hamid, an activist friend of Suciwati and Munir, said they would push Congress to consider the murder.
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda recently said that such statements would not affect Indonesia's international position or its relationship with the US.
Munir was an outspoken critic of the military, and at the time of his death had been speaking out about corruption at the Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs while the President, then the coordinating minister, had been in charge.
He also defended the victims of human rights violations and set up the independent National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence.
President Yudhoyono, who set up a fact-finding team to investigate Munir's murder, publicly promised that he would ensure that the perpetrators were brought to justice, but has remained silent since the Supreme Court issued its controversial verdict.