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Muchdi lodges final plea against charges
Former top spy Muchdi Purwopranjono made a last-ditch effort Friday to defend himself against charges of planning the murder of noted human rights activist Munir Said Thalib in 2004
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Former top spy Muchdi Purwopranjono made a last-ditch effort Friday to defend himself against charges of planning the murder of noted human rights activist Munir Said Thalib in 2004.
The South Jakarta District Court is scheduled to hand down its verdict on the former State Intelligent Agency (BIN) deputy chief on Dec. 31.
In the final defense statement, Muchdi insisted he had no involvement in the murder of Munir and asked the panel of judges to reject the prosecutors' demand he be sentenced to jail for 15 years.
"This trial has revealed there is not a shred of evidence directly linking me to the murder," Muchdi told the packed courtroom.
He described the charges against him as "devilish", claiming they were politically motivated, particularly to satisfy the international community.
Muchdi demanded the judges declare him not guilty and restore his image and reputation.
In its indictment, the prosecution said Muchdi had masterminded the high-profile murder and had recruited former Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto as a nonorganic BIN agent to carry out the assassination.
Munir was found dead on Sept. 7, 2004, aboard a Garuda flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam via Singapore. An autopsy conducted in the Netherlands revealed an inordinate amount of arsenic in his body.
Earlier this year, Pollycarpus was sentenced to 20 years in jail for his role in the murder.
Muchdi denied he knew Pollycarpus despite police evidence in the form of phone call data records, which confirmed 41 calls were placed between his and Pollycarpus' phone numbers.
"Note that it was call data records, not voice records. It only recorded the numbers and locations where the conversations took place," Muchdi's lawyer Wirawan Adnan told the court.
There was no proof that the defendant actually spoke to Pollycarpus as his cellular phone might have been used by another party, he added.
Muchdi's defense team also said there was no evidence that the defendant had given Pollycarpus Rp 13 million to carry out the murder.
"Budi Santoso, the only witness who could prove the payment and the relationship between the defendant and Pollycarpus, failed to appear in court," Wirawan said.
Budi, a former BIN director working under Muchdi, had testified to the police in October 2007 and May 2008 that Pollycarpus and BIN agent Kawan confessed to him they had received an order from the defendant to kill Munir.
Budi also said he had often seen Pollycarpus at the BIN headquarters, particularly inside Muchdi's office.
The defense lawyers asked judges to dismiss all charges against their client because of the lack of evidence and witnesses.
"Moreover, the prosecutors constructed the defendant's motive to murder Munir based only on a statement by Munir's widow Suciwati," Wirawan said.
The prosecutors have said Muchdi sought revenge against Munir after the latter had revealed the involvement of several Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) soldiers in the abduction of 13 democracy activists critical of the government between 1997 and 1998.
Following the incident, Muchdi, who was Kopassus chief at that time, was dismissed from the prestigious post only 52 days after his inauguration, they added.
