Indonesian officer on trial over activist's murder

Retired army General Muchdi Purwoprandjono was arrested in June on charges of involvement in the poisoning of Munir Thalib, who died of an arsenic overdose in September 2004 while flying from Jakarta to Amsterdam aboard the state airline Garuda.

Gen Purwoprandjono could face a death sentence if found guilty of ordering the murder.

Prosecutor Silu Sinaga told a packed courtroom that the defendant had "ordered Munir be killed" because he had exposed Gen Purwoprandjono's involvement in the abduction of 13 activists that led to his firing.

Defence lawyer Lutfi Hakim argued that prosecutors had based their case "on assumptions instead of facts."

Gen Purwoprandjono's trial at the South Jakarta District Court marks a giant leap in the investigation of Mr Thalib's killing, which was long undermined by high-level corruption.

Mr Thalib's widow Suciwati, who alleges that her husband was the victim of a state-sponsored conspiracy, said: "I just hope that, at this trial, Muchdi will dare to reveal who actually ordered him."

The proceedings may be an important gauge of progress in human rights and judicial reform in Indonesia since the end of the 32-year Suharto dictatorship a decade ago.

Gen Purwoprandjono is the first official at the State Intelligence Agency to be linked to a plot to have Mr Thalib killed and he could implicate other authorities.

Mr Thalib gained fame and made many powerful enemies for exposing abuses by the Indonesian army in East Timor and Papua during Gen Suharto's US-backed rule.