The Jakarta Post Wednesday, March 3, 2010

President told to reopen Munir case

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A solidarity group for the murdered activist Munir has given the President a list of legal options to unravel the mystery behind the murder after the last suspect in the case was exonerated by the Supreme Court.

The Solidarity Action Committee for Munir (Kasum) on Tuesday met with the presidential advisor Jimly Asshiddiqie.

The group’s coordinator, Usman Hamid, said his team had proposed several possible ways to find the long-awaited justice in the murder of Munir Said Thalib on board a Garuda Indonesia flight to Amsterdam in 2004.

“We gave our recommendations to Pak Jimly to be forwarded the President,” he added. Among the recommendations is a call for the police to open a new investigation into the case to find new evidence and new suspects.

Choirul Anam, a member of Kasum, said the investigation should not start from scratch.

“Instead, police should use the facts that have been revealed in previous trials and use the facts that were uncovered in the dossier but were never brought to trial,” he added.

They also demanded President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono immediately consider the recommendations made by an independent public examination team set up by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

The examination team was established in February last year to verify a 2008 court verdict that acquitted former deputy of the National Intelligence Body (BIN), Muchdi Purwopranjono, who was accused of masterminding the murder.

Kasum also asked the President to ensure that a case review request on the verdict would be filed immediately.

The team recommended that Muchdi be retrialed, saying that the legal process omitted several facts that would have allegedly exposed the involvement of certain parties, including the BIN and national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia.

Jimly said Kasum has brought in some realistic recommendations and others that were difficult to be realized.

“[Their recommendations of measures] to prevent such cases from happening again in the future can be discussed; but those that relate to cases past will take longer and be more difficult to discuss,” he added.

He declined to elaborate on which of Kasum’s recommendations are more feasible than others. “I do not think their recommendations are possible — whether it is for future prevention or for finding the solution for past cases — to be realized; those things are not easy [to do],” Jimly said.

Usman said Jimly preferred to “push for a new investigation into the case should a case review proves to be problematic”.

Jimly said, “I cannot promise anything because I am only one member [of the advisory council].” He, however, promised to discuss the matter with the other council members before going to the President.

“For a part of our society, Munir’s death is an unfinished business. And the state has to find the solution.

“But they have to be realistic at the same time. For me, Munir has become a symbol. This alone should be something to be thankful for.

This does not mean the case is solved, but we need to discuss which of [Kasum’s recommendations] are possible and which are difficult,” he said.

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