Ex Garuda director links spy agency to murder of activist
JAKARTA: A former director of Garuda Indonesia has linked the state intelligence agency to the mid-air poisoning of a human rights activist three years ago.
The Jakarta Post reports that Indra Setiawan told the Central Jakarta District Court he was asked by the spy agency, known as BIN, to place Pollycarpus Priyanto, an off-duty pilot, on the flight from Jakarta to Singapore as a security agent.
Priyanto was found guilty by a lower court of murdering the activist, Munir Said Thalib, but the Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 2006, citing a lack of evidence. Prosecutors are appealing that decision, saying they now have new evidence.
Setiawan was testifying at the trial of Rohainil Aini, a former deputy vice president of the airline. The two were arrested in April and accused of conspiracy in the murder.
Munir, a vocal critic of Indonesia’s military, died in September 2004 while flying from Jakarta to Amsterdam after ingesting a fatal dose of arsenic.
“I had received a letter from BIN, requesting Pollycarpus to be placed on board as aviation security because as a flag carrier, security of Garuda needed to be tightened,” Setiawan told the court.
Ian Jarrett
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