MUNIR CASE: SENATE STAFFER GETS UPBEAT APPRAISAL

UNCLAS JAKARTA 002201 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL PINR KCRM KJUS ID SUBJECT: MUNIR CASE: SENATE STAFFER GETS UPBEAT APPRAISAL FROM POLICE REF: A) JAKARTA 2122 B) JAKARTA 1223 C) JAKARTA 163 D) JAKARTA 13007 (2006) ¶1. (SBU) This message is Sensitive But Unclassified. Please handle accordingly. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY. Indonesian police expressed optimism that new evidence they have submitted to the Attorney General's Office (AGO) in the case of murdered human rights leader Munir will lead to successful prosecution. Head of Internal Investigations Division Bambang Hendarso told Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Staff Member Keith Luse on August 9 that President Yudhoyono and the Chief of Police are both committed to convict "whoever was behind" the murder. Hendarso could not disclose details of the new evidence but did say that all the evidence will come to public light in upcoming court hearings. The first hearing, scheduled for August 9, has been delayed until August 16. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (SBU) Senate Foreign Staff Member Keith Luse met with the Indonesian National Police's Head of Internal Investigations Bambang Hendarso on August 9, to get an update on the status of the Munir murder case. Hendarso gathered six members of the nine-person Munir police investigation team for the meeting. Hendarso confirmed that the case presented to the Central Jakarta Court has significant new evidence (Ref A). "Hopefully the case will succeed because of new evidence we have given to prosecutors. This will not be finished until we get whoever is behind the case," Hendarso told Luse and poloff. Jakarta Central Court is scheduled to hear the case on August 16. President Ordered Munir Case to be Solved -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Emphasizing the GOI's commitment to solve the case, Hendarso said Chief of Police Sutanto had ordered him to complete the case as quickly as possible and had given him a nine-person veteran police team to work on the case full time since the beginning of the year. He emphasized that President Yudhoyono ordered the police chief and the Attorney General to see the case solved. ¶5. (SBU) Hendarso said he could not reveal details of new evidence nor the identity of new suspects, explaining that divulging information could damage the case in court, but said that all the facts would be publicly revealed in court hearings open to the public. However, Hendarso did explain how thorough the investigation has been. For example, police flew on a Garuda Airlines plane from Jakarta to Singapore to reenact the entire sequences of events (ref B). Hendarso added that two new suspects in the case, two Garuda executives, have been held for the past four months pending the upcoming hearings. ¶6. (SBU) Police are also spending heavily on the case, Hendarso said, citing the $65,000 that they are spending to escort one Indonesian witness from Germany to Indonesia under protective custody. An American forensic expert from a private lab in Washington state who examined the arsenic content in Munir's body might also be brought to testify, he said. Luse Praises "Courage and Leadership" -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Luse told Hendarso that Senator Lugar and his colleagues appreciate the police's "willingness to pursue the truth no matter where the truth may take you," saying this takes courage on the part of the police and their leaders. ¶8. (SBU) Asked about possible motives, Hendarso said he could not respond specifically but did say that the "motive was connected with Munir's human rights activities in general." ¶9. (U) Keith Luse cleared this message. HUME