Munir Said Thalib: Difference between revisions

Munir was born in [[Batu, East Java]] into a family of Mixed [[Hadhrami people|Hadhrami]] [[Arabs|Arab]] and [[Javanese people|Javanese]] origins,<ref>Komisi Untuk Orang Hilang dan Tindak Kekerasan, ''Bunuh Munir!: Sebuah Buku Putih'' (2006) ...Munir, atau lengkapnya Munir bin Thalib dibesarkan dalam keluarga muslim keturunan Arab. Kakek moyangnya adalah imigran dari Hadhramaut (Yaman) yang ratusan...</ref> from [[Kathiri]]. He studied law at [[Brawijaya University]] in [[Malang]] in the province of [[East Java]], and later started off his career in 1989 as a [[legal aid]] officer in the East Java provincial capital, [[Surabaya]]. He became one of Indonesia's leading [[human rights]] campaigners<ref>{{cite news|last=Ramadhan|first=Hamzah|title=Munir Museum Brings Human Rights Issues to East Java|url=http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/blogs/munir-museum-brings-human-rights-issues-to-east-java/|accessdate=31 March 2014|newspaper=Jakarta Globe|date=10 February 2014}}</ref> and faced intimidation, including death threats. He accused the [[Indonesian military]] of human rights violations in [[East Timor]] and in the troubled provinces of [[Papua (Indonesian province)|Papua]] and [[Aceh]], and accused them of running a criminal network involved in [[illegal logging]] and [[Psychoactive drug|drug]] smuggling.

Munir was [[Arsenic poisoning|poisoned with arsenic]] on a flight from [[Soekarno Hatta International Airport|Jakarta]] to [[Amsterdam Airport Schiphol|Amsterdam]] on 7 September 2004. He was travelling on state-owned airline [[Garuda Indonesia]] [[Boeing 747-400]]. It was concluded from Munir's autopsy and eyewitnesses during the trial that he had died two hours before arrival in [[Amsterdam Airport Schiphol|Schiphol International Airport]]. He took the [[arsenic]] during his flight transit in Singapore, or sometime near that time. In Singapore, [[Pollycarpus Priyanto]], a Garuda pilot at the time and the prime suspect in Munir's trial, left the flight and then went back to Indonesia. Originally he departed from Indonesia by [[deadheading (aviation)|deadheading]], with a fake document which allowed him to fly on another flight which was not his scheduled flight. Munir began to suffer acute diarrhea and bouts of vomiting shortly after his flight took off from Singapore to Amsterdam. The cabin crew informed the pilot in command that a passenger was sick, and a doctor who happened to be on the plane was asked to provide medical assistance. However, Munir died around two hours before the plane landed at [[Amsterdam's Schiphol airportAirport|Amsterdam]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailweekly.asp?fileid=20040908.@01 |title=Rights campaigner Munir dies on plane |work=The Jakarta Post |date=8 September 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041116123612/http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailweekly.asp?fileid=20040908.@01 |archive-date=16 November 2004}}</ref>

A [[United States diplomatic cables leak]] alleged that former BIN chief [[A. M. Hendropriyono]] "chaired two meetings at which Munir’sMunir's assassination was planned" and that a witness at those meetings told police that "only the time and method of the murder changed from the plans he heard discussed; original plans were to kill Munir in his office."<ref name="auto3"/> When Hendropriyono was first appointed to the BIN it was bitterly condemned by Munir, who was guiding an investigation into Hendropriyono's role in human rights abuses for a prosecution.<ref name="auto1"/>

[[Category:Deaths fromby arsenic poisoning]]