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It's now or never to bring masterminds in Munir case to justice: Activists
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Protesters wear masks bearing the likeness of late human rights defender Munir during the weekly Kamisan Silent protest in front of the State Palace in Jakarta on Sept. 7, 2017. (The Jakarta Post/Ibrahim Irsyad)
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coalition of activists has demanded that the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) declare the murder of prominent rights defender Munir Said Thalib, which occurred 17 years ago, a grave human rights violation so it cannot lapse and the masterminds behind the crime can be brought to justice.
The Solidarity Action Committee for Munir (KASUM) fear that if the Munir case is treated as an ordinary crime, the 18-year statute of limitations on murder laid out in the Criminal Code will apply and any investigation will lapse next year and the ultimate perpetrators, who remain unknown, will get off scot-free.
“Looking at poor law enforcement recently, we are very concerned about the possible use of this provision -- that the Munir case has a statute of limitations,” KASUM secretary-general Bivitri Susanti said.
Why activists claim case is gross violation
KASUM said the Munir case appeared to check all the boxes required by prevailing laws to be considered a gross rights violation under the category of a crime against humanity that is defined by the law as a systemic or widespread attack on civilians. They said it was a systematic act since previous evidence indicated the involvement of state institutions in the murder plot and that it had a broad impact on efforts to protect human rights and democracy and caused a serious deterrent of fear for any human rights campaigners in the country.
Munir was poisoned with arsenic on a flight to the Netherlands on his way to pursue his postgraduate studies on Sept. 7, 2004. He boarded a national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia plane where his convicted killer Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto was assigned as an aviation security officer.
Pollycarpus was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2005 for poisoning Munir, and finished serving his prison time in 2018. He died of COVID-19 last year on Oct. 17.
