The Munir murder case is entering a new stage. These coming weeks Maj. Gen. (ret) Muchdi Pr is standing trial. The former deputy of the State Intelligence Agency will be accused of having ordered the killing of rights activist Munir. If proven, Muchdi is liable to a death sentence or life imprisonment.

However, Muchdi's defense counsel is convinced that he will escape. The documents used by the prosecutors are considered too weak to send this ex-Special Forces commander to prison. Now prosecutors are being challenged.

The dossier about 20 centimeters thick was on the left side of the desk of prosecutor Cirus Sinaga. Beneath the red cover, the case document was interspersed with paper strips of different colors to indicate important pages. It was the examination dossier of Maj. Gen. (ret) Muchdi Purwoprandjono, 59, the former Deputy V/Consolidation of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN). The file contains Muchdi's answers on his role in BIN and the accusation of his involvement in the murder of Munir. On Thursday last week, the dossier was delivered by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to the South Jakarta District Court.

The dossier is bulky because it includes no less than examination reports of 13 witnesses plus various court decision papers. For instance, there are the verdicts on Indra Setiawan, former Garuda Indonesia CEO, and Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, an ex-pilot of the state-owned airline company. Then there is also heaps of other evidence implicating Muchdi in the case of Munir's "elimination."

The AGO has formed a team of public prosecutors under Cirus Sinaga. "We have solid evidence," said Cirus about this case. The proof covered a quarto cash book with notes of incoming/outgoing letters and expenses, computer hardware owned by Muchdi's subordinate, complete details of cell phone notes, and three letters printed from data that were previously discarded and deleted but could still be retrieved. The last mentioned papers were among the important documents indicating the presence of an "order" to kill Munir.

On Monday last week, the examination documents were turned over by a police investigating team under Brig. Gen. Mathius Salempang to the AGO. The prosecutor will charge Muchdi with violation of Article 340 and Article 55 of the Criminal Code. These criminal provisions deal with premeditated murder and those ordering criminal action. They may involve penalties of 20 years in jail, life imprisonment, or capital punishment. Cirus was optimistic that Muchdi would not be able to evade the case.

Muchdi "slipped" and fell into a mud hole of the Munir case after the discovery of proof of 41 phone calls between him and Pollycarpus. Since the case was investigated by a fact-finding team – formed by the President three months after Munir died on September 7, 2004 – the phone notes have served as an indication of BIN's involvement. Based on the notes, Muchdi had five contacts with Pollycarpus on the day the human rights activist was "terminated."

Munir, founder of the Commission for Missing Persons & Victims of Violence (Kontras), died on a flight aboard Garuda GA-974 from Jakarta to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. When the plane was in transit in Singapore, somebody saw Munir talking with Pollycarpus at the Coffee Bean cafe. A Dutch laboratory test declared arsenic poisoning to be the cause of Munir's death. A further forensic test in Seattle, USA, confirmed that the poison entered Munir's body when the plane was in transit.

It was this forensic test that made the court find Pollycarpus guilty in its review trial on January. Previously, the Supreme Court appeal panel in October 2006 acquitted him of the murder. After the review, the police actively conducted an inquiry into the connection of the "agent pilot" with Muchdi, who kept denying any telephone contact. The police then obtained testimony from Muchdi's subordinate, Budi Santoso, that the two had communicated before.

Based on Budi's statement, along with the assignment letter signed by M. As'ad Ali, BIN Deputy Chairman, requesting that Garuda CEO name Pollycarpus as flight security staffer, the police pronounced Muchdi a suspect in May. On June 19, Muchdi was taken to the National Police HQ. He was held along with corruption suspects in the detention house of the Police Mobile Brigade Command head office in Kelapa Dua, Depok, West Java.

When the case was under investigation by the fact-finding team, this team faced difficulty in asking for information from Muchdi and other senior BIN officials. Three summonses addressed to Muchdi received no response from the ex-Special Forces commander. Until the expiration of the team's working period on June 23, 2005, none of them – Muchdi, As'ad, and former BIN Chairman Abdullah Makhmud Hendropriyono – was prepared to make any statement.

The completion of Muchdi's examination documents brought relief to Usman Hamid, a colleague of Munir in Kontras now serving as Executive Secretary for the Committee of Solidarity Action for Munir. He hoped the prosecution would not only rely on the police evidence, but also strengthen it or find new proof. "Prosecutors should make every effort so that the hard work by the police won't be in vain," said Usman, who is also now Coordinator of Kontras.

The AGO has prepared its best personnel in the battle against Muchdi's attorneys in court trial. "We are readying 10 prosecutors," said Deputy Attorney General for General Crime, Abdul Hakim Ritonga. To support the accusation, 13 witnesses will be summoned, including As'ad Ali (who signed the letter of assignment), Indra Setiawan (who followed up the letter), Budi Santoso, and Pollycarpus. Meanwhile, Hendropriyono is not made a witness because there was no information that touched on him.

Muchdi's defense team is also prepared to save the retired general from the serious allegation. The attorneys are even optimistic that Django – Muchdi's nickname among close friends – will escape indictment. According to Ahmad Kholid, Muchdi's attorney, all the prosecutors' evidence is insufficient to charge his client with premeditated murder. "If two people communicate over the phone many times, are they definitely talking about crime?" he queried. Moreover, he said, the prosecution claimed to possess no recording of the 41 phone calls. "They have to prove this in court." Ahmad also questioned the source of the phone notes. "Who tapped the phone? Was it based on the relevant procedure? It can be a bad precedent," he added.

There is another "weapon" already prepared by Muchdi's attorneys to resist prosecutors' charges: the evidence of assignment received by Indra Setiawan. It is the letter retrieved by investigators from a computer in Muchdi's office using a computer forensic technique. In Ahmad's view, even the photocopy of an original document is debated, let alone the copy only "retrieved" from "inside" a computer and printed out.

Apart from Muchdi's defense team, criminal law expert from the University of Indonesia, Rudy Satryo Mukantardjo, also described the prosecutors' ammunition to send Muchdi to jail as inadequate. The evidence of the assignment letter is an example. According to Rudy, it has to be verified by witness statements. "At least two witnesses," he said, who are the issuer and recipient. Besides, further supporting proof is required to show that the letter is indeed the same as the lost original. Still another document certifying the letter's entry or its receipt note is needed. If prosecutors possessed no such pieces of evidence, added Rudy, it would be hard to accuse Muchdi of masterminding Munir's murder.

If prosecutors use "notes of telephone calls between Muchdi and Pollycarpus," according to him, it cannot serve as proof either. "Because owners of phone numbers do not automatically indicate perpetrators of Munir's murder," pointed out the lawyer. Rudy suggested that the prosecution should not hastily unveil the mystery of Munir's killing. "Still, for the criminal penalty of twenty years, the case has an 18-year expiration period," he concluded.

Prosecution team head Cirus Sinaga rejected Rudy's doubts. "Without strong evidence, why should we seek to prosecute?" he remarked. Cirus emphasized that his team had the proof that Muchdi's defense counsel would have no way of countering. Usman Hamid was also sure that the prosecutor had a trump card to be played in court trial. "It's my hope that there will be a recording to be heard in court," he said, referring to the playing of a recorded conversation between prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan and Artalyta Suryani in the Corruption Court, which promptly uncovered the guilt of both corruption suspects.

Usman also hoped that Muchdi's trial would be a stepping stone to discover the persons more responsible for the death of Munir. "We anticipate that, besides Muchdi, there are others yet to be brought to court," he added. The court will indeed prove whether Muchdi will escape, or he alone, as a top BIN official, will to go to jail. – Adek Media, Rini Kustiani

Will He Fall Again?

It is not the first time that Maj. Gen. (ret) Muchdi Purwoprandjono has stumbled on a serious case. Ten years ago, at the peak of his career as Special Forces commander, Muchdi faced the case of kidnapping anti-New Order activists.

It was Munir who at the time eagerly unveiled the case. Consequently, Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto dismissed Muchdi, Prabowo Subianto, and Chairawan from their posts after their trial by the Military Honorary Council. The three were considered responsible for the behavior of the Rose Team, the team that kidnapped the activists.

Muchdi was later "parked" without an office at Indonesian Military HQ, until Hendropriyono in 2001 appointed him Deputy V of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN). Now he is again "facing" Munir, his old enemy. Will he fall again?

2004

September 7: Munir, 39, dies from poisoning.
December 23: The President sets up a fact- finding team.

2005

March 18: Pollycarpus is declared a suspect.
May 13: The fact-finding team summons Muchdi. It was ignored.
May 17: The team reports to the President on the repeated contacts between Pollycarpus and Muchdi during September-October 2004.
June 3: The team fails in questioning Muchdi. Five days later, Muchdi does not appear either.
June 24: The team submits its report to the President.
August 9: The trial for Pollycarpus starts in the Central Jakarta District Court.
November 17: Muchdi testifies in court trial. He denies any connection with Pollycarpus.
December 1: The prosecutor demands life imprisonment for Pollycarpus.
December 20: Pollycarpus is found guilty. The judge sentences him to 14 years in jail.

2006

January 26: Suciwati, Munir's widow, meets with Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh. She requests that he order cellphone operators to open the recording of talks between Muchdi and Pollycarpus.
February 16: Muchdi meets with House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono to ask for legal protection.
February 21: Muchdi questions the consideration of the judge's decision that links him with Pollycarpus.
March 27: The Jakarta High Court backs the verdict passed on Pollycarpus.
October 3: The Supreme Court's appeal panel of justices declares Pollycarpus not proven of committing murder.

2007

January 1: Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh states he will request a review of the case of Pollycarpus, with new pieces of evidence.
August 23: Recordings of tapped phone conversation between Pollycarpus and Indra Setiawan are played in the court session reviewing this case. There, Pollycarpus mentions "Avi and Asmini," who turn out to be code names for Muchdi and M. As'ad, BIN Deputy Chair.

2008

Januari 14: Budi Santoso, Muchdi's ex-subordinate, admits having been once asked by Muchdi to give money to Pollycarpus.May Investigators declare Muchdi a suspect.
June 19: Muchdi is detained.
August 11: Muchdi is transferred to the Attorney General's Office.