Indonesia prosecutors appeal activist's murder case

JAKARTA, July 27 (Reuters) Indonesian state prosecutors have appealed a decision by the Supreme Court to acquit a man convicted of murdering a leading human rights activist, a court official said today.

Rights campaigner Munir Thalib, known for his critical views on the military, was poisoned while on his way to the Netherlands for postgraduate studies in 2004.

In October, the Supreme Court overturned a guilty verdict for off-duty pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto in the murder case, saying there was not enough evidence and no witness.

Washington and top UN human rights officials have urged Jakarta not to let the case slide.

The Attorney-General's Office submitted a request for a review of the case against Priyanto to the Central Jakarta district court yesterday, court spokesman Heru Pramono said.

''We will prioritise the case because the public is concerned about it,'' he told reporters.

A case review requires new evidence to be heard.

The lower court, which originally heard the case, will examine the new evidence and will then submit the results of its review to the Supreme Court, which will issue a verdict.

The Supreme Court's acquittal of Priyanto put pressure on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who had vowed to get to the bottom of the case when he took office in late 2004.

Since the acquittal, police have relaunched the investigation and questioned several people.

Investigators say they have found new evidence that Munir was poisoned at Singapore's Changi airport during transit.

Garuda's former president director, Indra Setiawan, and another senior airline official have been arrested in connection with the issuing of a fake document that allowed Priyanto to be on board under the pretense of a security assignment.

Munir was an outspoken critic of the military and its methods in quashing dissent and separatists in hotspots such as Aceh and Papua provinces.

A Garuda Indonesia pilot himself, Priyanto had said he was on an assignment supervising security on the Jakarta-Singapore leg of Munir's flight. He gave his business-class seat to Munir during that leg.

Human rights groups say the government has not pressed the investigation or Priyanto's possible ties to others hard enough.

REUTERS AE KN1128