Former top spy cleared of Indonesian activist’s poison murder
by Arlina Arshad
Wed Dec 31, 2:48 am ET

JAKARTA (AFP) – An Indonesian court on Wednesday cleared the former deputy head of the country’s spy agency of masterminding the 2004 poisoning murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib.

Prosecutors had been seeking a 15-year jail term for the former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) Deputy Chief Muchdi Purwopranjono for plotting the murder of the activist, who was an outspoken critic of the country’s military.

The investigation into the killing is seen as a litmus test in Indonesia of how far the country has come in loosening the grip of the once-dominant military since the 1998 fall of dictator Suharto.

Munir, who died aged 38, was poisoned with arsenic as he flew from Jakarta to Amsterdam via Singapore on national airline Garuda Indonesia in September 2004.

“Muchdi Purwopranjono cannot be proved legally and convincingly to have ordered the murder of Munir,” a judge named Suharto told a court in Jakarta.

“He should be removed from detention immediately,” he said.

Purwopranjono was the first military official to face trial over the murder, which activists have long alleged was the work of senior intelligence officers.

Former Garuda airline boss Indra Setiawan and pilot Pollycarpus Priyanto were slapped with jail terms previously for their roles in the murder.

Munir was a prominent critic of human rights abuses by the military and provided legal counsel to victims of state violence during former dictator Suharto’s 32-year rule.

Prosecutors had alleged the killing was an act of revenge after Munir had uncovered the kidnapping of 13 activists allegedly by special forces under Purwopranjono’s command in the late 1990s.

The scandal led to the former general’s sacking as special forces chief, according to the indictment.

But Munir’s widow Suciwati said that she was disappointed by the court’s decision.

“It’s painful. It shows that the bad guys have won… we’ll fight on,” Suciwati said.

“Today we move one step back. But we’ll move 10 steps forward. We have to stand united to fight for justice,” she added.

About 600 Munir supporters, donning red T-shirts with the slogan “Justice for Munir, justice for all”, broke into chants of “Killer, killer, killer” outside the courtroom after the verdict was announced.

But when Purwopranjono’s supporters walked past they mockingly chanted: “Who killed Munir? Muchdi killed Munir.”

Around 200 of the former spy’s backers sang the Indonesian national anthem on hearing the verdict.

“It’s an extraordinary feeling. The truth has prevailed. Purwopranjono was freed because he had done nothing wrong,” said supporter Herujohan Shah.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, an ex-general who became Indonesia’s first directly elected leader in 2004, has promised to leave no stone unturned in the search for the “mastermind” of Munir’s killing.

“Not only Munir’s wife Suciwati, but all Indonesians who seek justice, are the victims of this. Justice has not been done,” human rights activist Rafendi Djamin said.

The National Commission on Human Rights urged the authorities to do more to bring Munir’s killers to justice.

“The Munir case is far from over. The police need to find more evidence and the prosecutors have to bring this case back to the court,” commission head Ifdhal Kasim told AFP.

“Many witnesses, especially from BIN, withdrew from being witnesses,” he said.

Small clusters of mobile foodstalls will appear magically, usually along small roads between office buildings, around lunchtime. They sell anything from noodles and mixed rice to cut fruits and drinks. Stools and a tables will be set up on the pavement, and people can choose to eat there if they don’t want a “takeaway”.

Cheap but yummy food indeed.

My favourite? The mixed rice hawker, who sells food from a lorry.

Countless varieties of krupuk exist, using various varieties of seafood. Sometimes, they are even made with fruits, nuts or vegetables, although these are not common, and cannot commonly be found except in southeast Asia. Indonesia has perhaps the largest variety of krupuk. Sidoarjo in East Java and Garut in West Java are major producers of krupuk, and many recipes originate from there. - Excerpt from Wikipedia

Prabowo Subianto, former commander of the Indonesian army’s special task force Kopassus, met former enemy, Lere Anan Timur, former commander of the Fretilin guerrilla army, in Jakarta on Friday. A few media people were invited to the meeting at Hotel Borobudur.

The two shook hands and exchanged warm greetings the moment they saw each other. The last time they met was 24 years ago during battle. Timur said Prabowo was a strong man. Prabowo said Timur had a bigger beard. They laughed. And through an intrepreter, the two conversed - Timur in Tetun, and Subianto in Bahasa Indonesia.

Here are excerpts from my recording.

Lere:
For 24 years, we were small and poor. But we had to continue to defend our country to achieve independence. It is important to look to the future. After independence, we must try to find ways to forge better ties between the two countries.

The consequence of war… it is not just Timorese, but Indonesians have also become victims of this political process.

Subianto:
It is a great honour to meet you. Then we were from opposing camps. I have high regard and respect for strong, tough and brave opponents. I respect the soldiers of Falintil who were brave, tough and strong in their character.

As a soldier, I had to carry out my responsibility for the military as well as my country but personally, there was no hate or revenge. I am thankful to meet guerilla commander Lere, and treat him as one great opponent.

I appreciate the invite to visit East Timor. I will accept the invitation as a private meeting or head of the organisation Tani. As you know, I am no longer in military but in farming (laughs). It is strange, those who are involved in war are the ones wanting peace. Because we know best the sufferings brought about by war.

I am for friendship between East Timor and Indonesia and hopefully, East Timor will provide the best for its citizens.

What’s past is past. We fought then, but I don’t have any feelings of hatred. What is important now is building friendship and cooperation. We don’t want to continue the animosity.

I did not write any story on the meeting though. But here’s a Jakarta Post report.

My camera ran out of battery (sigh). Sorry, no pictures.

Tenggulun is a very religious place. In 1992 two brothers of Ali Ghufron and Amrozi founded a school there to train local youngsters in Wahhabism, one of Islam’s most severely orthodox strains. Most of Tenggulun’s residents follow the more moderate Islam of Nahdlatul Ulama, an Indonesian religious society. - Excerpt from Time.

Below some photos from my digital camera.