The early release of Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, the murderer of prominent human rights advocate Munir Said Thalib, indicates that Indonesia under President Joko Widodo begins a losing battle in fighting impunity and upholding human rights principles.

Pollycarpus was released on parole from Sukamiskin Penitentiary in Bandung, West Java, on Friday after serving eight years of a 14-year sentence for the deadly poisoning of Munir in 2004.

His early release shows that there must be a powerful force in Joko's government that enables such a controversial and reputation-damaging decision.

Many people who fully and sincerely support Joko were already angry that the mastermind of the murder was never found. Now they have to watch the only person convicted in the case walk free.

We can feel that the decision was forced rather than natural. It's beyond logic that Joko could give his blessing to such a bad decision and risk his own image in the process.

Why the early release of Pollycarpus if he would ultimately be free in due time? It's because some people in Joko's inner circles want to end the case, and make people forget about the murder.

But we refuse to forget. We demand a comprehensive review of the case, and for those behind the killing to be brought to justice. We have enough impunity, and we reject any more forms of it.

Does this early release confirm that Joko has never prioritized human rights, despite his promise of human rights protection on the campaign trail? Does this release prove that Joko is powerless to dictate his own will? Is it time to scale down our hope for his human rights commitment?

We hope, no, we believe, that the answer to all these second-thought questions is no.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/opinion/editorial-early-release-munirs-killer-unjust/