Jakarta (AsiaNews) – A former chief official of Indonesia’s intelligence services (Bin) was arrested last night on suspicion of involvement in the 2004 assassination of the well known human rights activist Munir Thalib. According to Human rights groups, the arrest of the ex BIN deputy chief, Muchdi Purwopranjono, is the first official admission by authorities that the powerful secret services are behind Munir’s murder. Analysts note that in the arrest of the ex chief of intelligence means the police must have enough proof to bring him to trial.
The Munir case for many is an example of how much Indonesia has changed since the era of ex President Suharto, forced to step down in 1998 after massive popular protests. Under his regime, both the police and army were above the law, committing numerous acts of violence in total impunity.
38 year old Munir was an uncomfortable thorn in the side for Indonesian authorities: he had denounced military involvement in the repression of East Timor; in 1999 he was appointed to the UN commission on the violation of human rights in the former Portuguese colony occupied by Jakarta. He died after having drunk poisoned orange juice during a Jakarta - Singapore flight with state airline Garuda. Currently the only person charged with the murder is former Garuda pilot, Pollycarpus Priyanto, who is serving 20 years in prison for having materially carried out the assassination.
Munir’s widow, Suciwati, has welcomed the latest developments: “This is the first step to unveil a bigger scenario behind my husband's killing”. “This is the first time in the history of modern Indonesia” -continued the woman- “where a Commander of the Army's Special Forces is officially named by investigator to be potentially involved in a murder plot”.
For human right activist, this publicly information unveiled by police will start a new episode to unveil secret service involvement in the case and they foresee that the next target for investigation will in all probability be BIN's Chief Lieutenant General AM Hendroprijono, noted general and former Army's Special Forces member.