The former boss of Garuda Indonesia has told a court in Jakarta the spy agency BIN ordered him to allow an of duty pilot onboard, who may of been responsible for the murder of a human rights activist. Here’s more from the Jakarta Post.
Ex Garuda director links spy agency to midair murder of activist
JAKARTA (AP): A former director of Indonesia’s Garuda airline linked the state intelligence agency on Tuesday to the midair poisoning of a human rights activist three years ago.
Indra Setiawan told the Central Jakarta District Court he was asked by the spy agency, known as BIN, to place Pollycarpus Priyanto, an off-duty pilot, on the flight from Jakarta to Singapore as a security agent.
Priyanto was found guilty by a lower court of murdering the activist, Munir Said Thalib, but the Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 2006, citing a lack of evidence. Prosecutors are appealing that decision, saying they now have new evidence.
Setiawan was testifying at the trial of Rohainil Aini, a former deputy vice president of the airline. The two were arrested in April and accused of conspiracy in the murder.
Munir, a vocal critic of Indonesia’s military, died in September 2004 while flying from Jakarta to Amsterdam after ingesting a fatal dose of arsenic.
“I had received a letter from BIN, requesting Pollycarpus to be placed on board as aviation security because as a flag carrier, security of Garuda needed to be tightened,” Setiawan told the court.
That certainly puts a new spin on in flight service.
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