Garuda to Pay Widow Of Munir Rp 3.5b

Jakarta Globe, Ulma Haryanto, February 19, 2011

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The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal filed by flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and upheld an earlier ruling ordering the airline to pay damages to the widow of slain rights activist Munir Said Thalib, lawyers said on Friday.

Munir died of arsenic poisoning on board a Garuda flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam in 2004. The poison was administered by off-duty pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2008 for the murder.

In 2006, Suciwati, Munir’s widow, sued Garuda’s management, former executive director Indra Setiawan, vice president of corporate security Ramelgia Anwar, flight operator support officer Rohainil Aini, Pollycarpus and five members of the cabin crew on board the flight.

The Central Jakarta District Court ruled in her favor and ordered Garuda and the other respondents to pay Rp 3.5 billion ($396,000) in damages.

Nurkholis Hidayat, director of the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) and a lawyer for Suciwati, said this effectively meant Garuda and the others had to pay up “for the losses caused by Munir’s death.”

“And because Garuda lost its appeal to the Supreme Court, even though it may file for an extraordinary remedy against the ruling, that will not stop Suciwati from claiming what is hers.”

Nurkholis said the ruling could be considered partial justice for Munir and his family, “even though during the criminal trial, the courts never touched the mastermind [behind the murder].”

One of the key suspects in the case, former intelligence chief Muchdi Purwopranjono, was acquitted of the murder.

A former commander of the army’s Special Forces unit (Kopassus), Muchdi was forced to step down after Munir, who founded the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), shed light on the elite unit’s involvement in kidnapping dissenters.

Choirul Anam, a lawyer for Suciwati who is also deputy chairman of the Human Rights Work Group and coordinator of the Committee of Solidarity Action for Munir (Kasum), said he had been notified about the ruling on Thursday.

He said the Supreme Court’s ruling should inspire more victims and wronged consumers to file civil suits.

“Especially those who were aggrieved by the aviation industry in Indonesia, which is still far from perfect,” he said, adding the court’s decision “marks a success for consumers in demanding compensation.”

“We hope that Garuda, which has been trying to polish its image, will cooperate with us and obey the verdict without making it more complicated,” Choirul said.

Garuda spokesman Pudjobroto declined to comment on the case, telling the Jakarta Globe the company had not yet received official notification of the verdict.