Anthony Deutsch, Jakarta – Police will question Indonesian intelligence agents for the first time about their alleged involvement in the poisoning death of a top human rights activist after a former pilot was convicted Friday of murder.
The questioning could break years of deadlock over the investigation into the killing of Munir Thalib, who had a reputation for exposing military abuse during the US-backed dictatorship of former President Suharto.
Thalib died of arsenic poisoning on a commercial Garuda flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam in September 2004.
A lower court in 2005 convicted Polycarpus Priyanto, an ex-pilot for Garuda, in the killing. The Supreme Court acquitted him 10 months later, drawing international criticism.
But the same court overturned the acquittal Friday based on new evidence and ruled that Priyanto committed premeditated murder, said court spokesman Nurhadi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
Priyanto also was convicted of using forged documents to board the plane posing as a security agent. He was sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison. Priyanto was taken to Cipinang Prison in Jakarta late Friday.
US Embassy spokeswoman Susan Stahl welcomed the Supreme Court ruling for "its significance for accountability and the success of the Indonesian judicial system in enforcing the rule of law."
Congress decided last month to withhold $2.7 million in military aid to Indonesia pending a deadline for completing the criminal investigation.
Indonesia's chief police spokesman, Maj. Gen. Sisno Adiwinoto, said suspects at the State Intelligence Agency will be questioned about "their alleged involvement in the killing."
Priyanto's conviction has created "an entry point to go after the masterminds," said Usman Hamid, Thalib's friend and an activist who has campaigned for his killers to be brought to justice.
Thalib's widow, Suciwati, said Priyanto "should have received a life sentence" and urged police to "follow this up by bringing to justice the former leaders of the spy agency."
After his conviction, Priyanto insisted he was a victim of politics. "Everything is a big lie. I was framed," Priyanto told reporters at his home in the capital, Jakarta, as police waited to take him to prison. "This is all about politics. I am a victim."
Thalib's case has been seen as a critical test of Indonesia's ability to break from more than three decades of impunity for regime loyalists and cronies during the rule of now-ailing strongman Suharto.
Historians say up to 800,000 alleged communist sympathizers were killed during his rise to power from 1965 to 1968. His troops killed another 300,000 in military operations against independence movements in Papua, Aceh and East Timor. No one has been punished over the killings.
Transparency International has said Suharto and his family amassed billions of dollars in stolen state funds, allegations they are fighting in court.