Jakarta – Activists from various human rights NGOs urged Attorney General Basrief Arief to challenge a Supreme Court ruling that acquitted the alleged mastermind of the murder of rights activist Munir Said Thalib by using US diplomatic cables recently leaked by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks.

The cables, which linked the murder to the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), should have been presented as new evidence to prosecute former BIN deputy chairman Muchdi Purwoprandjono, Choirul Anam from the Solidarity Action Committee for Munir (Kasum) told a press conference on Friday.

"The Attorney General cannot argue that his office did not have new evidence to file a review against Muchdi's acquittal. These cables are new evidence," Anam said.

The Indonesian legal system requires the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to present new evidence to challenge a Supreme Court ruling. A WikiLeaks US diplomatic cable dated Jul. 28, 2006 revealed that then National Police chief Gen. (ret.) Sutanto met with US Ambassador for Indonesia B. Lynn Pascoe.

In the meeting, Sutanto, who is now BIN chief, told Pascoe that he was convinced that BIN was involved in the murder [of Munir], but still lacked conclusive evidence.

Haris Azhar from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said Sutanto's current position should have helped him probe his "curiosity over BIN's alleged involvement, as he had suggested to the ambassador, by conducting an internal investigation."

Sutanto denied the meeting ever occurred.

Another cable, dated Dec. 4, 2006, classified as "Secret", showed that a police detective involved in the Munir case investigation, named Anton Charliyan, had confirmed that then BIN chairman A. M. Hendropriyono was also "a possible suspect" in the case.

Hendropriyono has on many occasions denied his own involvement or the involvement of BIN in the murder of the famous human rights activist.