Prosecutors set for appeal against Muchdi’s acquittal

Dicky Christanto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 01/13/2009 9:46 AM  |  National

State prosecutors have lodged an appeal with the Jakarta High Court against the recent acquittal of a former top spy for the murder of rights activist Munir Said Thalib.

Attorney General’s Office spokesman Jasman Pandjaitan said Monday prosecutors sought an appeal to prove judges made the wrong decision exonerating former State Intelligence Agency deputy chief Muchdi Purwopranjono.

“We are in the middle of formulating legal arguments and regulations that will show that the judges’ justifications for acquitting Muchdi were wrong,” Jasman said.

According to the Criminal Law Procedures Code, prosecutors have two weeks following a verdict to issue an appeal.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed his support for the legal move to challenge the verdict.

The South Jakarta District Court found Muchdi not guilty of masterminding the murder of Munir on Dec. 31 last year. Presiding Judge Soeharto said the prosecution had failed to prove that Muchdi hired Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto to carry out the murder, a charge for which he later received 20 years in prison.

Muchdi’s verdict failed to unravel the conspiracy behind the high-profile murder.

The verdict sparked protest from human rights activists across the country, who said the acquittal disgraced the country’s struggle to uphold human rights and justice.

Munir’s widow Suciwati said the court ruling did not surprise her.

“If we look back at what happened during the trial, we saw that prosecutors brought a weak indictment to the court, so it is no wonder judges considered the legal arguments too weak to send Muchdi to jail,” she told The Jakarta Post.

Human rights activists grouped under the Solidarity Action Committee for Munir (KASUM) and legal experts are now analyzing the verdict to help prosecutors draft arguments of their appeal.

“We plan to hand the analysis to Attorney General Hendarman Supandji himself. And it will be up to the prosecutors whether they will consider our advise or not,” Suciwati said.

Munir, a prominent human rights activist, was found dead on a Garuda flight bound for the Netherlands in September 2004. Further investigations jointly conducted by the Indonesian and the Dutch police later found that Munir died from an excessive dose of arsenic.

The court also found former Garuda president director Indra Setiawan and former chief secretary Rohainil Aini guilty of issuing documents that allowed Pollycarpus to join Munir aboard the Garuda plane as a flight security officer.

Muchdi’s lawyer Mahendradatta said the Supreme Court should turn down the appeal as it was clear that his client was innocent of all accusations.

Under the Criminal Law Procedures Code chapter 244, prosecutors can file for an appeal but not for acquittal.

“If the Supreme Court decides to hear the appeal, it will raise big questions about its impartiality,” he said.

Muchdi, deputy chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party, has in the past claimed to be a victim of a political struggle.

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