JAKARTA - Today, December 8, human rights (HAM) activist, Munir Said Thalib, has a birthday. If he is still alive, he is currently celebrating his 56th birthday. Munir died September 7, 2004 because he was poisoned while traveling from Jakarta to Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The case will expire next year. A gloomy and gloomy ending if it happens.
When he died, Munir was 39 years old. He wants to study at the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands. Munir headed to the Netherlands on a Garuda Indonesia flight with flight number GA-974. Munir's plane had a transit in Singapore.
After transiting and returning to continue his journey to the Netherlands, Munir felt sick to his stomach and often went back and forth to the toilet. Even moving seats so that they are close to the toilet and can be properly examined by a doctor.
Two hours before arriving at Schipol Airport, Amsterdam, Munir died. He breathed his last on September 7, 2004 at around 08.10 local time. Quoting Tempo, two months after Munir's death, the Dutch police revealed that he died from poison.
Munir's murder with poison was discovered after an autopsy showed that his body contained arsenic compounds. The compound is known to be present in urine, blood, and heart in amounts exceeding normal levels.
Munir is known to be very active in upholding human rights. He had been a legal advisor to the families of victims of the Tanjung Priok tragedy in 1984. Munir had also fought for the death of the labor activist, Marsinah.
Munir and other fellow activists advocated and investigated the case of Marsinah's murder. Munir was also active in advocating for human rights cases that occurred in 1997-1998, when Suharto was still leading the Indonesian government.
Munir case handlingGaruda Indonesia pilot Pollycarpus and former President Director of Garuda Indonesia, Indra Setiawan, were involved in Munir's death. Pollycarpus was with Munir and it is strongly suspected that he was the one who gave Munir the poison arsenic.
At the time of the incident, Pollycarpus claimed to be an additional crew member. Quoting Kompas, on December 20, 2005, Pollycarpus was sentenced to 14 years in prison by the Panel of Judges at the Central Jakarta District Court.
He is considered proven to have committed premeditated murder and used a forged document, as in the first indictment of Article 340 of the Criminal Code in conjunction with 55 of the Criminal Code paragraph 1 to 1 of the Criminal Code and the second indictment of Article 263 paragraph 2 in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph 1 to 1 of the Criminal Code. Previously, the public prosecutor (JPU) asked the panel of judges to sentence Pollycarpus to life in prison.
Pollycarpus then filed an appeal and on March 27, 2006, the DKI Jakarta High Court sentenced Pollycarpus to a prison sentence of 14 years. The panel of appellate judges stated that the law of the first panel of judges was correct.
The case continued to be appealed in the Supreme Court (MA). The Supreme Court only sentenced Pollycarpus to two years in prison for the use of forged letters. For premeditated murder, the Supreme Court stated that it was not proven. Pollycarpus was only proven to have used a fake letter that was used to go to Singapore.
On January 25, 2008, according to the PK's decision, Pollycarpus was sentenced to 14 years. Pollycarpus was later released on parole in 2014 and declared pure free in August 2018. Pollycarpus died on October 17, 2020 due to COVID-19.
Missing Investigation Results
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) had formed a fact-finding team (TPF) to find out the truth behind Munir's death. It was reported that the results of the investigation had been submitted to SBY on 24 June 2005.
However, the results of the investigation were not communicated to the public, even until SBY completed his duties as president. Joko Widodo (Jokowi) promised to resolve cases of past human rights violations, one of which was the Munir case.
Jokowi made this promise when receiving a number of legal experts and practitioners at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on September 22, 2016. Jokowi stated his commitment to resolving these cases.
However, it was reported that the results of the TPF report were missing. KontraS immediately went to the State Secretariat office asking for an explanation for the disappearance of the TPF and urged that the results of the TPF be submitted immediately. However, until now, the report has not been submitted.
Munir's murder is also believed to have involved state institutions, namely the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) and a state-owned company, namely Garuda Indonesia. All executions were carried out systematically, the perpetrators seemed to have found protection.
Actors bigger than Pollycarpus are still not being processed, for example the former Head of BIN AM Hendropiyono. According to the provisions of the Criminal Code (KUHP), 18 years is the time limit for resolving criminal cases.
This year, the Munir case has entered its 17th year. This means that next year the Munir case will expire. If until next year the Munir murder case is still not revealed, the history of human rights in Indonesia is getting worse and needs to be questioned.
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