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Muchdi’s acquittal, ‘worst New Year gift’
Abdul Khalik and Dian Kuswandini , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Fri, 01/02/2009 8:36 AM | Headlines
The acquittal of former top spy Maj. Gen. (ret) Muchdi Purwopranjono of all charges in the murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib has incensed rights activists and observers.
They said the verdict, handed down Wednesday by the South Jakarta District Court, insulted the people’s sense of justice and gave credence to public perception that the country’s legal system and law enforcers, including police, prosecutors and judges, lacked credibility.
“It is the worst New Year’s gift from law enforcers to the people in their struggle for justice and human rights,” rights group Pijar Indonesia said Thursday in a statement.
“The verdict threatens the country’s human rights defenders by implying you can walk away after killing them,” it added.
The court decision has buried the truth of the mystery behind Munir’s murder, in which the judiciary was expected to uncover a “political conspiracy” involving the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), Pijar said.
Setara Institute executive director Hendardi said the ruling preserved the legal impunity of certain officers in Indonesia, particularly military generals accused of rights abuses.
“We can see clearly the judges were under political pressure from those who wanted the case closed,” he said.
Munir’s widow, Suciwati, who was a witness during the trial’s last hearing, expressed shock at the verdict, saying she and Munir’s supporters would immediately go to the National Police headquarters and the Attorney General’s Office to discuss the next steps to take.
“I have already lost my husband, and now I lost justice. The outcome is being watched by the international community to see how seriously Indonesia enforces the rule of law,” she said, her voice quivering with emotion.
“This is very painful. Something that I feared has now come to pass. Today’s ruling proves that Indonesian justice still sides with human rights abusers.”
Usman Hamid, a prominent rights activist and a close friend of Munir’s, slammed the “poor prosecution” as one of the reasons for Muchdi’s acquittal.
He cited prosecutors’ failure to present tapped conversations between Muchdi and Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder, during the trial to strengthen their case against the defendant.
“I don’t understand why they didn’t present the voice records. We witnessed how scared the prosecutors were during the trials,” said Usman, who chairs the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), founded by Munir.
Kontras also expressed disappointment at prosecutors’ failure to view the Munir case as a conspiracy, thus resulting in a missing link between Pollycarpus and Muchdi.
This turned the focus of the investigation on Muchdi as an individual, particularly his motive for murdering Munir, thus blocking out the alleged involvement of other suspects, Kontras said.
Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would summon National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri and Attorney General Hendarman Supandji for clarification of the case and verdict.
Muchdi, a former BIN deputy chief, was released from detention on Wednesday evening, and later held a charity event to show his gratitude for the verdict.
“(The ruling) is a present for Indonesia,” he said.
Muchdi, currently deputy chairman of the Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), has long claimed he was a “victim of foreign intervention” in the Munir case.
His lawyer, Wirawan Adnan, said the defense team would sue Suciwati, Usman and other activists, including Hendardi and Poengky Indarti, for dragging Muchdi into the case.
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Yo Tony Bule (not verified) — Sat, 01/03/2009 - 10:28am
It is clear that these types of cases should be heard before Dutch judges in the Netherlands. OK, some might be appalled at such a reliance, or connection, on the old colonial power, but at least justice would be served, impartially, as it is supposed to be.
In time, as the bad guys from ABRI and that 'misnomer', the political elite, die off - or are executed (sic) - and as the local judiciary gains confidence, and hopefully clean out their bad guys, the judicial process can revert to being a purely Indonesian one again.
Kind of how Suharto brought in SGS to oversee the customs back in the early 1980's.
The Starchild (not verified) — Sat, 01/03/2009 - 7:11am
I think the Indonesian legal system will never be free from intervention by the military, intelligence, the mafia and ex-new order era human rights abusers remembering that they still influence the politics these days.
The best thing to do right now is to boycott parties which propose candidates either as a president or a legislative candidates with past human rights abuse records.
I was supportive of those abusers in the past but since i became a law student in 2004 and now i am about to graduate my view to these matters change 360 degrees. Now i beleive to true meaning of the law....justice and human rights for all.
Intrepid46 — Fri, 01/02/2009 - 7:04pm
hahaha...Indonesia, the center of corruption! A ridiculous place!
Briend (not verified) — Fri, 01/02/2009 - 4:06pm
When will the people finally have enough and revolt?! It is time to boycott all the courts. Block them completely off. Force all the judges off the benches. Bring them back one by one only after they have passed an ethics board. Then have an impartial overseer for each court where the judge must satisfy certain requirements of jurisprudence including the concept of precidence. Also they must show total wealth, and show proof of all gain (due diligence).
Borsa — Sun, 01/04/2009 - 7:30am
With key witnesses absent, the trial of Muchdi was a sham
Pollycarpus, the man who killed Munir by arsenic poisoning, received his orders from BIN. Someone from BIN must be convicted. So, if Muchdi is not guilty (which is something really hard to swallow), who next should be tried? Hendropriyono? As'ad?
When Budi Santoso, a key witness in the case, was free to speak, his declarations unambiguously accused Muchdi. It is not clear why Budi Santoso is now unable to respond to the summonses of the judges (one can speculate that his life, or his family's, are in danger). In that case, the trial should have been delayed until Budi Santoso and other key witnesses were able to appear before the judges.
Budi Santoso and the other witnesses who testified against Muchdi should be given protection against those who have interest in silencing them.
PT (not verified) — Fri, 01/02/2009 - 8:55am
Great. Then, who is killing or order to kill Munir ? Or, what ? Where the transparancy promised by the so called 'reformation' governance ? Or it is just another illusion for general people ?