Jakarta – Government prosecutors on Tuesday demanded a 15-year jail sentence for a former senior Indonesian intelligence official charged in the murder of a prominent human rights activist.

Prosecutors alleged Muchdi Purwoprandjono, 59, a former Military Special Forces general and deputy head of the State Intelligence Agency, had been "proven guilty" of involvement in the premeditated murder of Munir Said Thalib – an outspoken critic of the country's military.

"We ask for the panel of judges to hand down a 15-year jail sentence for the defendant Muchdi Purwoprandjono," chief prosecutor Cyrus Sinaga told the South Jakarta District Court.

Sinaga said Muchdi's alleged involvement in the murder had damaged the country's image. He added that the former senior spy had been impolite during his trial.

Muchdi is the first top official to face trial for the murder of Munir, a prominent human rights activist who died in September 2004 from arsenic poisoning aboard a Garuda Indonesia flight to Amsterdam via Singapore.

Indonesian human rights activists have long suspected that the intelligence agency was behind the murder of Munir, 38, who challenged abuses by the dictator Suharto's regime.

Muchdi responded angrily to the prosecution's charges, saying he had been slandered. "This is the peak of conspiracy and slander against me. You all know that slander is crueller than murder," Muchdi said as he was led from the courtroom.

He has been in custody since he turned himself in on June 19 in Jakarta and has denied the allegations against him.

Prosecutors said in their indictment that Muchdi was bent on revenge when Munir's work in uncovering the kidnappings of 13 activists by an army special forces team caused him to be removed as chief of the special forces after 52 days in office.

Earlier this year, former Garuda Indonesia pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto was sentenced to 20 years in prison for poisoning Munir. Former Garuda chief Indra Setiawan was jailed for one year for his role in the murder.

In Pollycarpus' trial, evidence of phone conversations between Pollycarpus and Muchdi relating to the murder and of payments by Muchdi to the pilot were uncovered. But Muchdi claims he shared the phone with family and staff.

Prosecutors argued that witnesses in the trial had confirmed a relationship existed betweenPollycarpus and Muchdi and that both of them had frequently communicated since July 2004.

Munir's widow, Suciwati, expressed disappointment with the prosecutors' demand for a 15-year jail term, saying they should have sought a life sentence.

Human rights campaigners and observers have described Purwoprandjono's trial as a starting point in the fight against impunity for high officials and also for intelligence reform in Indonesia.