Indonesian ex-airline worker jailed

Former secretary at Indonesian airline jailed for aiding murder of rights activist.

indonesia munir murder
Munir's death prompted an official probe andsparked street protests in Jakarta [EPA]

Wednesday’s conviction comes three weeks after a different court acquitted retired Major General Muchdi Purwoprandjono, the ex-deputy chief of the State Intelligence Agency, of plotting the murder.

That decision is being appealed by prosecutors.

Munir, who was a known critic of the country’s military, died after consuming arsenic-laced orange juice on a Garuda Indonesia flight to Amsterdam in September 2004.

In 2005 a presidential fact-finding team concluded that the state was most likely behind the killing, but its recommendations for a deeper inquiry have been ignored.

The handling of the high-profile murder case has been seen as a gauge of progress in fighting corruption and upholding human rights in the young South-East Asian democracy of 235 million people.

Source: News Agencies