Former Garuda Indonesia airlines president director Indra Setiawan told the court on Friday his decision to issue a letter assigning Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto as part of the corporate security unit was to accommodate a request from the State Intelligence Agency (BIN).
"My misfortune began when I received a letter from the State Intelligence Agency signed by M. As'ad, ordering me to assign Pollycarpus as an additional staff member to the corporate security unit," Indra said as quoted by Detik.com.
Indra told the Central Jakarta District Court, where he is currently on trial for conspiracy in the murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib, that when he received the letter, he thought it was to be an intelligence operation for the sake of Garuda or for the nation. He emphasized that he did not know anything about an assassination plan.
"If I had known that the letter was intended to kill someone, I would not have responded to the request. I would rather lose my job than help a murder to take place," Indra said.
"What I did was only to accommodate BIN's request, not Pollycarpus' request," he added.
On Friday, the Supreme Court overturned its own verdict by sentencing Pollycarpus, a former pilot for Garuda, to 20 years imprisonment after the court found him guilty of the premeditated murder of Munir. The prison term is heavier than two lower courts' 2007 rulings that jailed Pollycarpus for 14 years.
The prosecutors in Indra's trial have charged him with being responsible for issuing an assignment letter making it possible for off-duty Pollycarpus to be on the same plane as Munir.
Munir was found dead on board a Garuda flight to Amsterdam on Sept. 7, 2004. A Dutch autopsy found he was poisoned with arsenic.
The Supreme Court based its most recent ruling on new evidence that Munir was poisoned between Singapore and Amsterdam.
The Supreme Court said that two to five witnesses testified they saw Munir sitting with Pollycarpus in a cafe at Changi airport in Singapore. They also testified that they saw Pollycarpus bring two drinks to the table. About 30 minutes later, Munir started to complain of a stomach ache.
According to the prosecutors' indictment, the presence of Pollycarpus on that occasion was made possible when he secured the assignment letter from Indra.
The prosecutors have demanded an 18-month jail sentence for Indra for facilitating actions that led to the murder.
Indra's lawyer Antawirya Dipo Dipuro said at the trial that Pollycarpus reminded Indra to "follow up" on the letter from BIN, Detik.com reported.
According to Antawirya, Pollycarpus revealed Garuda security problems that included, among others, passengers without identity cards and Garuda crew who often "smuggled" things from abroad.
"The prosecutors' indictment was very ambiguous. It didn't reveal how or when my client helped the murder nor who it was who provided assistance. Was it BIN, a BIN officer or Pollycarpus?" Antawirya said.
The panel of judges said they would deliver a verdict on Feb. 11. (uwi)
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar