Garuda pilot found guilty of murdering passenger on plane

A Garuda pilot was today jailed for 14 years for the murder of a human rights activist. Pollycarpus Priyanto was found guilty, in Jakarta, of poisoning Munir Thalib in 2004, by putting arsenic in his orange juice, on a flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam . Priyanto then gave the cup to a flight attendent, who pased it on to Munir, who died on arival in Amsterdam.

This whole thing has much deeper roots, the flight attendants and Priyanto only being the stooges in the plan. Some sources say this murder was inspired by the military and other powerful institutions.

Munir gained fame during the Suharto era for speaking out against the government and formed a pressure group called Imparsial. He was 38.