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Govt urged to resume pro-justitia process after Munir file submission
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Suciwati, wife of the late human rights campaigner Munir Said Thalib, proudly shows off a street sign honoring her late husband in Jakarta on April 11, 2015. The Dutch government also officially named a street after Munir on April 14. (Antara/Reno Esnir)
F
ormer members of a 2004 fact-finding team (TPF) have urged state officials to immediately resume a pro-justitia process to unravel the case of slain rights defender Munir Said Thalib, as the State Palace received on Wednesday a copy of the TPF’s investigative findings.
The copy of the TPF report was submitted by former State Secretary Sudi Silalahi, following the recent fiasco of the report being "lost" at the State Secretariat. TPF chairman Marsudi Hanafi authenticated the copy, saying it was same as the orignal.
Attorney General HM Prasetyo earlier insisted the original document had to be found before determining further measures. While the AGO should continue to look for the original, it should not be a reason for prosecutors to delay a new legal process into the case, former TPF member Hendardi of the Setara Institute said.
"[The copy] can be used to assist a pro-justitia process. Originality of a document is not a requirement in continuing a legal process since [proceeding to a new investigation] only depends on political willingness," Hendardi told journalists on Thursday.
The government should immediately disclose the TPF’s findings, including publicly announcing the names of the two individuals alleged by the TPF to have been involved in Munir's murder, but were exempted from the legal process. Hendardi, however, refused to hint at the names.
Similarly, Amirudin al-Rahab, also a former TPF member, urged the government to make a concrete breakthrough in resolving Munir's murder after a decade of darkness. He further said President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo should form a new fact-finding team to evaluate the TPF’s 2005 findings.
The fact-finding team, formed by former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2004, identified the alleged role of National Intelligence Agency (BIN) officials in the Munir’s murder, including then BIN chief Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono.
Purportedly, the report revealed that Hendropriyono was found to have exchanged telephone calls with Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, a former Garuda Indonesia pilot who was found guilty of murdering Munir, around the time of the incident. Hendropriyono has repeatedly denied any role in Munir’s death, who was poisoned with arsenic on a Garuda flight to the Netherlands. (dmr)
