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Pilot jailed for killing activist

JAKARTA: An Indonesian state airline pilot was sentenced to 14 years in jail yesterday for poisoning to death the country's top human rights activist.

The murder of Munir Thalib aboard a jetliner last year triggered outrage amid suspicions that government or military agents were involved, and critics accused state prosecutors of failing to go after the masterminds.

A five-judge panel found off-duty pilot Pollycarpus Priyanto guilty of putting a lethal dose of arsenic in Thalib's food while he was on a Garuda Indonesia flight to Amsterdam, and then watching from a nearby seat as he ate.

The activist became violently ill and died two hours before landing at Schiphol International Airport.

Judge Cicut Sutiarso said Priyanto carried out the murder because of Thalib's "vocal criticism of the military and the government."

"I didn't do it," screamed Priyanto, 44, after the judges handed down their 14-year sentence for premeditated murder. "I reject the verdict! I will appeal."

The investigation into the September 7, 2004 killing has been seen as a test of Indonesia's ability to break from the traditions of former dictator Suharto, who was accused using his security forces to brutally silence his opponents.