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Police more dedicated than govt in solving murder: Widow
The government has been "dragging its feet" and "lacking seriousness" in solving the murder of human rights campaigner Munir Said Thalib, his widow said, but she gave two thumbs-up to the National Police for their work
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The government has been "dragging its feet" and "lacking seriousness" in solving the murder of human rights campaigner Munir Said Thalib, his widow said, but she gave two thumbs-up to the National Police for their work.
"It's been four years now, and the government has yet to resolve it," Munir's widow, Suciwati, told The Jakarta Post recently.
"However, the National Police team -- under detective chief (Comr. Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri) -- has performed much better in carrying out its investigations. The team keeps a low profile by working more -- especially in targeting new suspects in the case -- and making fewer public statements," she said.
The National Police claimed last Thursday to have enough evidence to arrest the mastermind of the September 2004 murder of Munir, who died on board a Garuda plane from Singapore to Amsterdam.
The new suspect ordered and provided the opportunity for the assassination, the police said.
Suciwati said she believed the suspect might be someone affiliated with the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) who has been mentioned during previous trials.
"One of the trials heard mention of BIN former deputy chief Muchdi, who allegedly made 41 calls to Pollycarpus (Budihari Priyanto, an off-duty Garuda pilot convicted of involvement in the murder).
"Later on, the House of Representatives also mentioned four names that could be targeted as suspects," Suciwati said.
She did not elaborate on her statement.
"But if the police named Muchdi as the mastermind, I wouldn't buy it. I believe there is one person who should be held responsible for the murder.
"That person might no longer officially be in a certain position, but surely still has the power to make orders," she said.
Asmara Nababan, a human rights activist and member of Munir's fact-finding team, said the criminal investigations agency had mentioned the new suspect's name during a meeting with the fact-finding team some time ago.
"But I cannot publicize it yet because of an agreement with the police. However, the new suspect is identified as a male and a former official of a certain institution. His name was often mentioned during trials of Pollycarpus and Indra (Setiawan, director of Garuda Indonesia)," he said.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Abubakar Nataprawira said the name of the suspect would be announced in the near future.
"We're still collecting evidence to support our accusations against the new suspect. We are being really careful in doing this because we don't want to make any mistakes," he said.
"I cannot tell the public now about the details of the investigation. Just wait and see." (nkn)
