TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - It is almost impossible to avoid the impression that 'dark forces' are at work trying to prevent the facts behind the murder of Munir Said Thalib 12 years ago, from being exposed. The human rights activist died on a Garuda flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam on September 7, 2004. A fatal dose of arsenic was found in his body.
Since then, the Munir case has been suspended somewhere between reality and hope. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono established a fact-finding team on December 23, 2004, 106 days after Munir was killed, giving the conspirators and perpetrators plenty of time to conceal and obscure the evidence. Less than three months later, the 'Team of 14' headed by Police Brig Gen. Marsudi found evidence that Munir's murder was the result of an evil conspiracy. The complete investigation result was submitted to President Yudhoyono on June 24, 2005.
From that point, nothing was done with the findings, until two weeks ago, when the judges granted a request by the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) for the government to publish the results of the investigation. The government was given 14 days to do so. But long before the deadline, officials at the State Secretariat made a statement that defies common sense: they don't know where to get that document.
This is truly an embarrassment for a modern nation. President Joko Widodo is well-known internationally. What will the world say when it becomes known that Indonesia's well-respected president cannot count on a reliable system to maintain documents? If this statement was previously 'consulted' with the president, then there is no other way but to conclude that dark forces are at work.
The president must not take this lightly. He did the right thing by ordering the Attorney General's Office and the National Police to investigate the 'disappearance' of this document. The request from the Palace for former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to help explain the confusion over the whereabouts of the document is no ordinary 'request' but one that could become mandatory if the issue goes to court. When he received the document 11 years ago, the President was accompanied by, among others, the State Secretary, the Cabinet Secretary and the National Police chief.
The indications of an 'evil conspiracy' in this case is a serious problem that cannot be denied. The stench of an intelligence operation was apparent right from the start of the investigation. But after A.M. Hendropriyono, head of the State Intelligence Agency at the time of Munir's murder, repeated his denial of being involved in the case to Koran Tempo last week, what are we waiting for?
According to the Freedom of Information Law, anyone responsible for the intentional disappearance of public information can be jailed for two years and/or fined Rp10 million.
The president's aides must not turn this case into a means for Joko Widodo to escape his responsibilities. So far, Jokowi's 'Mental Revolution' campaign is nothing more than a slogan. Uncovering the truth behind Munir's murder must become part of Jokowi's effort to prove that his mental revolution is real.
In this case, the president must stay out in the open, not skulk in the shadows, under the power of the dark forces. (*)
Read the full story in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine
