INDONESIAN police have questioned a former director of airline Garuda Indonesia and four of his ex-subordinates over the fatal poisoning of a top human rights activist, a company lawyer said. Indra Setiawan, recently dismissed as Garuda's top executive in a management shake-up, was questioned along with former corporate security vice-president Ramelgia Anwar, operation director Hermawan, pilot Carmel Sembiring and secretary Rohainul Aini. Activist Munir died on a flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam in September. An autopsy by Dutch authorities found a lethal dose of arsenic in his body. Police have already named a Garuda pilot, Pollycarpus Priyanto, who was on the same flight as Munir, as a key suspect in the case. Two flight attendants who served food to the activist on the flight have also been declared suspects.
Lawyer Wirawan Adnan said the five were questioned to clarify conflicting statements made by the suspects. He did not elaborate. Priyanto has said he was on the flight to check a Garuda 747 jet in Singapore with landing gear problems. He backed his claim with a letter of authorisation from the airline. A government-sanctioned fact-finding team has said the letter was falsified by Garuda, however, and accused the airline of a cover-up.
Munir was known as a fearless campaigner, exposing abuses by the country's powerful military. He also provided legal counsel for victims of officially-sanctioned violence during former president Suharto's 32-year rule that ended in 1998. |