Missing Munir Case Documents, Historian: A Shameful Incident
13 October 2016 16:08 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Anhar Gonggong, a historian from Universitas Indonesia said that the disappearance of documents belonging to fact finding team of the Munir case is a shameful incident.
"It is a shameful carelessness. It is weird, if [the documents] are indeed missing," Anhar said ina discussion on Thursday, October 13, 2016.
Anhar added that legal sanction should be imposed because it is the government’s responsibility to keep records of state documents.
Previously, the State Secretary Ministry said that they are not in possession of the documents. The Ministry made the statement following a request made by the Public Information Commission to make the documents public.
Anhar said that the mistake does not only relate to Munir case, "but also to the state's dignity." Anhar added that the government should not hide documents just because they do not want to solve the case.
Anhar stated that the incident is not only shameful, but also very demeaning to the state. "Actually the government can [solve the case], with tools they have, they can do it. But the problem is, maybe they don’t want to," Anhar said.
Presidential Decree No. 111 of 2004 on the Establishment of the Fact Finding Team for the Munir Case instructed the government to reveal any documents related to the case after the investigation process has been completed. However, the documents remain hidden from the public even 12 years after Munir's death on September 7, 2004.
FAJAR PEBRIANTO | BUDI RIZA