A Murder Unresolved

TEMPO Interactive, Malang:The wife of murdered human rights activist Munir has demanded the Attorney Generals Office to file an appeal request against a Supreme Court ruling that led to the acquittal of then murder defendant Muchdi Purwopranjono. Muchdi is a former deputy of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) who had been accused and acquitted of ordering out the killing of Munir Said Thalib. Munir was 38 when he was murdered on a plane through arsenic poisoning. His killing on September 7, 2004, sent shockwaves across the nation. Years later, anger and criticism poured in from various parts of the world against a government that allowed for the weakened state of the Munir murder investigations. One man spotlighted throughout the prosecution of the Munir murder trial was lead prosecutor Cirus Sinaga. Cirus had asked the courts to sentence Muchdi to 15 years in jail, but Muchdi was later acquitted. Cirus had also led the prosecution of Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, and had asked that the former pilot of Garuda Indonesia be sentenced to life for Munirs murder. Pollycarpus was sentenced to just 14 years in jail. In October last year, Cirus himself was sentenced to five years in prison for doctoring the indictment of graft convict Gayus. H. Tambunan in attempts to help him evade corruption charges. This is not about revenge. It is for our history and our future, so that it should become better for our children and grandchildren, Suciwati hassaid, pointing out that for an appeals request, or a PK, to be filed against a Supreme Court ruling, there needed to be two new pieces of evidence. The first refers to claims by Muchdi that he had been assigned by BIN to travel to Malaysia between Sept. 6-12 in 2004. According to Suciwatis lawyer, this is a false claim. The second piece of evidence is a CDR, or a call data record, that communications between Pollycarpus and Muchdi had been existent and that this was already admitted by the AGO and the police. Suciwati said that there were still other pieces of evidence proving of Muchdis involvement in the murder that was never brought to court at that time. Where was all that evidence? How did Muchdi get away? Those who were jailed were only the operators on the field. Not the mastermind. The President made empty promises. ABDI PURMONO