Former Indonesian airline chief jailed for part in mid-air killing

Jakarta: The former director of Indonesia's national airline was sentenced to 12 months in prison on Monday for his part in the mid-air killing of a human rights activist.

Indra Setiawan, a former CEO of Garuda Airlines, was convicted as an accessory in the murder of activist Munir Said Thalib, in a case seen as a critical test of Indonesia's ability to break from more than three decades of impunity for regime loyalists and cronies during the rule of the late dictator Suharto.

Thalib, a vocal critic of Indonesia's military, died in September 2004 while flying from Jakarta to Amsterdam after ingesting a fatal dose of arsenic.

The court said Setiawan had abused his position to enable Polycarpus Priyanto to board the flight and give Munir an arsenic-laced drink during a stopover at Singapore's airport. Priyanto was convicted of premeditated murder in the case last month.