[Kabar-indonesia] 3 JP Munir Reports: Suciwati Turns to House; AGO May Seek Pollycarpus Review

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

3 JP reports: 

- Munir's Widow Turns to House for Support 

- Activists demand release of Munir report 

- AGO may seek Pollycarpus review 

The Jakarta Post
Saturday, October 7, 2006

Munir's Widow Turns to House for Support 

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Frustrated with the government's handling of the murder of her husband, human 
rights campaigner Munir, the activist's widow Suciwati sought political 
support 
from the House of Representatives on Friday.

Munir's widow called on the House to use its political clout to press 
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to take concrete actions to unravel the mysteries 
surrounding her husband's death. 

"We hope the House can exert pressure on the government. We are tired of 
being given empty promises. I want to believe that the system still offers ways to 
solve the murder, but we have been led to distrust the system," Suciwati told 
a press conference at the House. 

She said her own efforts to lobby the President have been fruitless. 

"I have spoken to the President through his spokesman, but what I got in 
response was that he told me not to criticize the government too much," Suciwati 
said, referring to presidential spokesman Andi Alfian Mallarangeng. 

Usman Hamid, executive director of the Commission for Missing Persons and 
Victims of Violence (Kontras), who has been campaigning with Suciwati to call 
attention to the case, said the House could play an important role in moving the 
investigation forward. 

He said the President's seeming inaction and a recent Supreme Court decision 
to quash the murder conviction of the sole suspect, Pollycarpus Budihari 
Priyanto, could happen only because the House was not exerting enough political 
pressure. 

Usman suggested the House immediately form a working committee to assist in 
the government's efforts to discover who ordered Munir's murder. 

"But first, the House should publish the results of its own investigation 
into Munir's murder," he said. 

A government-sanctioned fact-finding team investigated the murder of Munir, 
who was found dead on board a Garuda Indonesia flight to the Netherlands in 
2004. Its findings have never been fully released to the public. 

Usman and Suciwati called on the government to set up a new investigative 
team, however, rather than revive the now-defunct effort. On Wednesday the 
National Police named Brig.Gen. Surya Dharma Nasution as the new chief of the 
revived team. 

"The old team didn't achieve anything or contribute anything that could 
resolve the murder case, so why decide to revive it?" Usman said. 

Answers about the government's commitment to solving Munir's death proved to 
be difficult to come by Friday, with Yudhoyono remaining mum on the issue. 

The President walked away when journalists asked what further instructions he 
would give to police probing the murder. 

Minutes before, the President gave lively answers about progress in the 
planned deployment of Indonesian peacekeeping forces to war-torn Lebanon. 

Noted lawyer Asmara Nababan suggested that a new team could jump-start its 
investigation by focusing on telephone conversations, allegedly between 
Pollycarpus and the former deputy head of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), 
Muchdi PR before and after Munir's death. Muchdi and BIN have denied any 
involvement in the case. 

"We suspect that the 41 telephone conversations concerned field reports on 
Munir's assassination. That is why the BIN turned down a request to disclose 
them," said Asmara, a former member of the government-sanctioned fact-finding 
team. 

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The Jakarta Post
Saturday, October 7, 2006

Activists demand release of Munir report 

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government must release the final report and recommendations of the 
presidential fact-finding team set up to investigate the murder of activist Munir, 
an international human rights watchdog said.

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the government of President 
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should also establish an independent body to audit the 
police investigation and the Attorney General's response to Munir's murder. 

Munir, a respected activist, was poisoned on a flight to Amsterdam two years 
ago. He was 38 years old. 

The Supreme Court overturned the conviction Wednesday of the only person 
serving time for the murder, pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto. 

The government's fact-finding team was established in December 2004. Its 
report has thus far been withheld from the public. 

"The police and the attorney general's office have steadfastly continued to 
ignore evidence and recommendations submitted to them by the presidential 
fact-finding team, which also implicated senior intelligence officers and airline 
officials in involvement in the murder," said Brad Adams, HRW's Asia director. 

He said the truth must be uncovered, including who ordered and planned the 
killing, "no matter where the trail leads". 

Similar demands to publish the report were made Wednesday by Usman Hamid, a 
former member of the investigative team. Usman leads the independent Commission 
for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, which Munir founded. 

The HRW also called on the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) to extend full 
cooperation to the police and any subsequent independent investigative body. 

Another prominent human rights watchdog called on the government to create an 
independent commission with a robust mandate to investigate the murder of the 
outspoken rights campaigner. 

New York-based Human Rights First said in a statement made available to The 
Jakarta Post on Friday that such a commission was needed because the police 
have failed to act on leads identified by the fact-finding team. 

The President has said he will "revitalize" the police investigation. 

"Further investigation was already needed to identify whoever planned and 
ordered the killing. Now even the existing conviction hangs in the balance," 
Human Rights First said. 

It said a new and effective inquiry could look for new evidence to be used by 
the Supreme Court if it agrees to review the case. A special Human Rights 
Court could also take on the case if the crime is shown to be one that falls 
under its mandate, such as a crime against humanity. 

On Oct. 16, Human Rights First will present its annual award to Munir and to 
his wife Suciwati, in recognition of their contribution to human rights and to 
highlight the need for accountability in his case. 

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The Jakarta Post
Saturday, October 7, 2006

AGO may seek Pollycarpus review 

Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Attorney General's Office may ask the Supreme Court to review its verdict 
exonerating the sole suspect in the murder of a noted human rights campaigner.

The AGO is waiting to receive a copy of the verdict in the case of 
Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto from the Supreme Court. "We will have to study the verdict 
first, to see if there is anything overlooked and unanalyzed," Deputy 
Attorney General Basrief Arief was quoted as saying Friday by Antara. 

Basrief said the AGO would need to find new evidence to request a review. 

The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed charges that Pollycarpus killed activist 
Munir. The court cut his jail term from 14 years to two years. The Garuda 
pilot was found guilty only of falsifying documents. 

Previously, AGO spokesman I Wayan Pasek said there was no legal way for the 
AGO to have the verdict reviewed because the Criminal Code specified that only 
the convict and his or her relatives had the right to request a review. 

On Thursday, however, Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh told Kompas daily 
that he had instructed the attorneys to appeal the court's verdict. 

Chief Justice Bagir Manan said there were legal and academic questions as to 
whether the attorneys were allowed to appeal the Supreme Court's verdict. He 
suggested, however, that the court would not reject the planned request. 

"If you read my writings and past statements, you'll know that if there is a 
contradiction between the law and justice, I'll advise all judges to defend 
justice," he said. 

Justice Harifin A Tumpa said the court in 1996 accepted a request for a case 
review filed by prosecutors in the case of Muchtar Pakpahan. "There is a 
precedent," he said. 

Muchtar, the chairman of the All-Indonesian Labor Association (SBSI), was 
sentenced to four years in prison in Medan, North Sumatra, for subversion. He was 
exonerated by the Supreme Court. 

Bagir said he would prepare a panel of five judges -- normally three -- to 
deal with the planned appeal. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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