Jakarta Post Editorial – July 17, 2009
In November 2004, the newly elected President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono promised to bring the killer of human rights activist
Munir Said Thalib to justice, a killing he once referred to as a
test case on “how much Indonesia has changed”.
But to this day, people are still asking, who killed the
country’s most fearless and prominent human rights activist?
It is clear that SBY has not kept his promise and has failed the
test to change Indonesia.
The clearest sign of failure came last week when the Supreme
Court said it supported the South Jakarta District Court verdict,
which acquitted army major general, Muchdi Purwopranjono, the
alleged mastermind of the killing from all charges. Court
spokesman Hatta Ali said that it found no mistake in an earlier
district court decision, but refused to elaborate on
considerations used by the justices to reject the prosecutors’
appeal request.
The public’s disappointment over the unresolved murder not
withstanding, we have to respect the June 15, 2009 Supreme Court
decision. We side with those who wish to see justice being
served, particularly Munir’s widow and children. On the other
hand, Muchdi’s name should be rehabilitated, as the court found
him not guilty.
The public’s frustration is understandable. As the case has
dragged on slowly over the last five years, human rights
activists have highlighted the strong culture of impunity
cultivated during the 32 years of military dictatorship under
Soeharto. There is no reason to believe, they say, that this kind
of killing will not happen again.
Munir was poisoned on board a Garuda airliner when it was
approaching Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands on Sept. 7, 2004.
In his short but fruitful life, Munir was behind the successful
probing of numerous past human rights abuses by the military. His
widow Suciwati and his two children had also secured Yudhoyono’s
personal promise to find the killer immediately following his
death.
Since then, a dark cloud has hovered over the trial after
attempts to find the mastermind of the killer have failed.
Muchdi, the former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy head,
was the fourth person brought to court in Munir’s case. His
superior, then the intelligence chief, Hendropriyono, did not
appear in court.
An off-duty Garuda pilot, Pollycarpus Budhari Priyanto, was found
guilty of putting arsenic poisoning into a glass of orange juice
offered to Munir. He was found guilty, but was later acquitted by
the Supreme Court. He is now languishing in jail for using a
forged letter of recommendation from the BIN that enabled him to
join Munir’s flight as part of the airline’s security staff.
Former Garuda secretary, Rohainil Aini, was acquitted over legal
technicalities, while former Garuda president director, Indra
Setiawan, was sentenced to 16 months for his role in the murder.
It is time to turn to SBY and ask him to fulfill his promise. Can
he deliver it in three months time before his tenure comes to an
end? Or will he make another promise if he is re-elected come
October? Otherwise, he will only reinforce what people think
about politicians: They are only good at making promises.
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