Jakarta (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The airline pilot condemned for the murder of renowned human rights campaigner, Munir Thalib, could be free by next March. Yesterday, the Supreme Court cut the ongoing 14-year jail term of Pollycarpus Priyanto to two years. The judges absolved him of the charge of poisoning food served to Munir. The food contained a lethal quantity of arsenic. The incident took place on 7 September 2004 on a flight of the Indonesian airlines company Garuda.

In December 2005, Central Jakarta's District Court sentenced the pilot to 14 years imprisonment for carrying out the crime and for "falsification of documents". The Supreme Court established that there was insufficient proof of responsibility for the murder but upheld the two-year sentence for falsification of documents. The Garuda pilot, who has been in prison since March 2005, could be free within months.

The Supreme Court decision has drawn strong criticism from human rights organisations that are wondering whether "Justice in Indonesia can still be trusted". As for the political authorities and police leaders, they have given their assurance that investigations into the case will go ahead. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has promised Munir's widow, Suciwati, that the government would find and try all those responsible for the murder.

Munir, who openly supported democracy, often spoke out against the Indonesian army. He had denounced military involvement in the repression in East Timor and in 1999, he was appointed as a member on the UN Commission of Inquiry into human rights abuses that took place in the ex-Portuguese colony.