MUNIR CASE -- EVIDENCE IMPLICATING FORMER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 002101 SIPDIS DEPT. FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, DRL, DRL/AWH NSC FOR EPHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/14/2018 TAGS: PGOV KJUS KDEM ID SUBJECT: MUNIR CASE -- EVIDENCE IMPLICATING FORMER INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL IN MURDER ADDS UP REF: JAKARTA 1951 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Testimony continues in the case of a former top intelligence official implicated in the 2004 murder of well-known human rights activist Munir Said Thalib. Damaging testimony was recently brought into evidence against Muchdi Purwopranjono, the defendant. In the meantime, the defense continues to try to poke holes in the prosecution's case. The evidence against Muchdi is adding up, but the case--an important one for human rights accountablity--will take time to complete. END SUMMARY. EVIDENCE ADDS UP ¶2. (SBU) Testimony is continuing in a key case involving human rights accountability. The case involves Muchdi Purwopranjono, a former high level Indonesian intelligence official and former Army Special Forces (Kopassus) commander, who has been accused of being the mastermind behind the October 2004 murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib. ¶3. (SBU) In recent court sessions, judges allowed prosecutors to read testimony given by Budi Santoso, a former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) official. Santoso is currently serving at the Indonesian Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, and has refused to testify in open court despite numerous summonses. Santoso had provided earlier statements to police, however, about what he knew of the murder and the apparent conspiracy behind it. Key points from this testimony included: --Munir was seen as a threat to certain BIN officials (some of whom were former Indonesian military officers) because of his investigation of the Indonesian military (TNI) over the kidnappings and disappearances of human rights activists in the 1990's. --Then BIN deputy director Muchdi Purwopranjono hired Pollycarpus, a former Garuda Airlines pilot, to murder Munir in 2004. (Note: Pollycarpus was found guilty for his role in Munir's murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.) --Santoso said he witnessed Pollycarpus in Muchdi's office at BIN headquarters several times. --After the murder, Pollycarpus called Muchdi and Santoso from Singapore to report on successfully poisoning Munir. ¶4. (SBU) Observers say that this testimony is very damaging to Muchdi as it links him directly to Pollycarpus and a murder conspiracy. ¶5. (SBU) There has been additional testimony implicating Muchdi. Prosecutors presented phone records showing that there were 42 calls between Pollycarpus and Muchdi before and after Munir's murder. An expert witness at the trial confirmed to the court that these calls took place. He said the call data records were impossible to manipulate. Both Pollycarpus and Muchdi have denied calling one another. TRYING TO UNDERMINE PROSECUTION CASE ¶6. (SBU) Muchdi's defense lawyers remain hard at work trying to poke holes in the prosecution's case. Their latest tactic has been to claim that Muchdi had no clear motive in Munir's murder. This is in response to the prosecution's main thrust which is that Munir was killed because he was investigating kidnappings and disappearances in the 1990's, and was getting too close to the trail of Muchdi--who was a high-level military official at the time--and others who were involved. JAKARTA 00002101 002 OF 002 ¶7. (SBU) To this effect, the court heard testimony from former General Djasri Marin, chief military police investigator into the abductions and disappearances. Marin testified that Muchdi's name was never mentioned during the TNI's investigations into what transpired. Instead, he indicated that Prabowo Subianto, Muchdi's predecessor as Kopassus chief, established the military unit found to have been involved the crimes. Another defense witness, former head of the Kopassus legal division Colonel Mochtar Zein, said the TNI investigation of the matter had nothing to do with Muchdi but focused on Prabowo. (Note: Prabowo, a former relative by marriage to the Suharto clan, is currently a candidate for president.) In sum, the defense's claim is that Muchdi had no reason to fear Munir's human rights investigations given that he (Muchdi) was not involved in the disappearances to begin with. (Note: There is considerable evidence that Muchdi was involved, however.) NO VERDICT SOON ¶8. (C) The prosecution has had some setbacks, but the evidence against Muchdi is adding up. That said, the case will take time to complete. There are many more witnesses to call and the defense has not yet presented most of its rebuttals. The case is a key one for human rights accountability in Indonesia. While it is positive that one person has already been convicted for the murder (Pollycarpus),that person was low level and not a big fish. Muchdi, however, is a well known former civilian and military official. If he is convicted, that would be major win for accountability. HUME