Jakarta – The State Intelligence Agency (BIN) has been implicated in the murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib after prosecutors submitted new evidence in the case review of Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto at its first session Thursday.

Part of the new evidence presented by prosecutor Poltak Manulang included the testimony of a junior BIN agent, Raden Mohammad Padma Anwar, also known as Ucok.

Ucok claims he and his peer, agent Sentot, received orders from a senior agent, Manunggal Maladi, to kill Munir before the 2004 election. He said he plotted a series of scenarios, including asking paranormals to bewitch Munir, which did not work.

Ucok said he once saw Pollycarpus in the parking lot of BIN's office and asked Sentot who he was. Sentot told him Pollycarpus was a Garuda Indonesia official who was there to meet high-ranking BIN officials.

Not long after, according to Ucok's testimony, he heard of Munir's death and questioned Sentot. "It is none of our business, it is the high-ranking officials' business," Sentot said to Ucok, as quoted by Poltak.

Munir died from arsenic poisoning on Sept. 7, 2004, onboard Garuda flight 974 from Jakarta to Amsterdam, which included a stopover at Singapore's Changi Airport.

Witnesses Joseph Ririmase, Asrini Utami Putri and Raymond "Ongen" Latuihamallo – all passengers on the same flight as Munir and Pollycarpus – testified they all saw Pollycarpus drink at a cafe with Munir while in Changi. Based on these testimonies, the prosecutor concluded Munir was poisoned at Changi airport and not aboard the plane, as previously claimed.

Poltak cited evidence showing Pollycarpus made 41 calls to a BIN senior official soon after Munir's death.

He also cited a testimony from then Garuda president director Indra Setiawan, saying he had received a letter from BIN deputy chief As'ad instructing him to assign Pollycarpus as an aviation security officer on the fateful flight. "It is strange that a pilot would be put on duty as an aviation security officer," said Poltak.

Based on the new evidence and testimonies, prosecutors requested the judges reopen the case and sentence Pollycarpus to life in prison for premeditated murder. In December 2005, the Jakarta District Court sentenced Pollycarpus to 14 years in prison, but the Supreme Court annulled the verdict in October 2006.

The Supreme Court then sentenced him to two years in prison for forgery and he was released in December.

Pollycarpus' lawyer, M. Assegaf, however, disputed the legality of the request and said the new evidence was not substantial enough to determine whether Pollycarpus was guilty or not.

The court session has been adjourned to Aug. 22, when testimonies of the witnesses will be heard.