Pessimism after 20 years without justice for Munir – Politics

Munir, a vocal activist during Indonesia's early reform years and founder of the human rights group Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), died of arsenic poisoning on September 7, 2004, aboard a Garuda Indonesia flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam.

Although several people served prison sentences in connection with the case, the circumstances of Munir's murder remain unclear to this day.

In 2008, aviation security officer Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto was sentenced to 20 years in prison in connection with the case before the Supreme Court reduced the sentence to 14 years. After a total sentence reduction of 50 months, Priyanto was released in 2018 and died of COVID-19 in 2020.

Saturday marked the 20th anniversary of his murder. Indonesians in various cities commemorated Munir's death by taking to the streets, visiting his grave and demanding that the government bring his killers to justice. Social media users also generated the hashtags #SeptemberHitam (Black September) and #Muniradalahkita (We are Munir) to be on trend.

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But this year the demands were more dire, as the government has done very little to bring Munir's killers to justice over the past two decades, especially in the run-up to the inauguration of President-elect Prabowo Subianto.