TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The name Abdullah Makhmud Hendropriyono resurfaced after the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) won the lawsuit in the Central Information Commission (KIP) on Monday, October 10, 2016. Based on the verdict, the Ministry of State Secretary is obliged to publicly release the findings of the Fact-Findings Team (TPF) in the murder case of Munir Said Thalib.
Former-Chief of State Intelligence Agency (BIN) Hendropriyono is said to be the most responsible person in Munir’s death. The HAM activist died after drinking a beverage contained with arsenic when he flew to the Netherlands from Jakarta on a Garuda Indonesia airline in 2004.
Hendropriyono denied any involvement in the case. He realized that his position at the time makes him a scapegoat of the murder although, according to him, he did not know anything about it. “It because I was the Chief of BIN at the time. I’m not panicking because I know I’m not (involved). It's okay; I'll let them go ahead [with the issue]. I don’t know anything,” he said Wednesday, October 12, 2016.
He heard about the issue the first time from the newspapers. “The first news of his [Munir's] death is said to be caused by a liver illness. Then, it said that he was poisoned. The third one led to the BIN. The fourth, it led to me. That was the timeline which appeared on the eve of my assignment [at BIN],” He said.
When asked about the latest report from TPF on Munir’s case, Hendropriyono admitted that he also only heard about it from the news. According to him, the TPFs finding had been submitted to the police and court. “None of it leads to me. That’s why I’m not summoned to the court,” he concluded.
ABDUL MANAN | AGOENG WIJAYA | DEWI SUCI RAHAYU | ADITYA BUDIMAN | RINA WIDIASTUTI
