T

he Jakarta State Administrative Court has rejected a lawsuit against the release of Pollycarpus Budihari Prijanto, who was previously convicted of the murder of human rights activist Munir.

Presiding judge Ujang Abdullah said the court did not have the authority to examine the government'€™s decision to release Pollycarpus, as stipulated in a Law and Human Rights Ministry decree, which had been the main subject of the lawsuit filed by human rights watchdog Imparsial.

'€œAccording to the law, the motion cannot be accepted [...] but the plaintiff can appeal this verdict within 14 days,'€ he said on Wednesday while reading the court verdict.

Pollycarpus was granted parole by the Law and Human Rights Ministry in November last year after serving only six years in prison. He had been sentenced to 14 years for the premeditated murder of Munir and for falsifying documents.

Imparsial is challenging the decree that allowed Pollycarpus'€™ release, aiming to annul the parole, which they claim violates the provisions of a 2012 government regulation and a 2013 Law and Human Rights Ministry decree that public interest and a sense of justice and security should be taken into consideration when granting parole.

Imparsial lawyer Muhammad Isnur said that the judges were trying to avoid the case because they were not brave enough to handle it.

'€œThis is part of our move to seek justice for Munir'€™s murder. We will appeal [the parole case] at the Jakarta High Administrative Court,'€™ he said.