Munir Said Thalib

Munir Said Thalib was an Indonesian activist and human rights lawyer who founded the Kontras and Imparsial organisations and won the Right Livelihood Award in 2000. He was assassinated in 2004 by arsenic poisoning on a Garuda flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam. The case is still unsolved and his killers are accused by his widow and supporters. Munir was born in Batu, East Java into a family of Mixed Hadhrami Arab and Javanese origins, 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 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 and Aceh, and accused them of running a criminal network involved in illegal logging and drug smuggling. He once fractured his hand whilst saving an elderly labourer from being beaten by security officials. He founded the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) in 1998, and the Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial) in 2002, both Indonesian human rights NGOs. His last position was executive director of Imparsial. In 2000, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize, for his courage and dedication in fighting for human rights, justice and democracy in Indonesia. He also received other international awards, such as the Bruno Kreisky Award and the Civil Courage Prize. He was active in some early nationalist organizations, such as Jamiat Kheir and Sarekat Islam. He was a respected leader and a vocal critic of the government and the military. He was a close friend and ally of Abdurrahman Wahid, the fourth president of Indonesia. In 2004, he was invited by Utrecht University to pursue a master's degree in international law and human rights. He boarded a Garuda flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam on September 7, 2004, but never reached his destination. He was poisoned with arsenic on the flight, and died shortly before landing at Schiphol International Airport. His autopsy and eyewitnesses during the trial confirmed that he had died of deliberate arsenic poisoning. The investigation into his murder revealed a conspiracy involving the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), Garuda Indonesia, and the Indonesian Embassy in the Netherlands. Several suspects were arrested and tried, but only one, Pollycarpus Priyanto, a Garuda pilot who had befriended Munir and given him a seat upgrade, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 14 years in prison. However, he was released in 2014 after serving only eight years. The masterminds behind the assassination remain unknown and at large. Munir's widow, Suciwati, and his supporters have been demanding justice and accountability from the Indonesian government, but their efforts have been met with resistance and obstruction. Munir's body was flown back to Indonesia and buried in Malang, where he is revered as a national hero and a martyr for human rights.