December 23, 2025 | 03:35 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Suciwati, the wife of the late human rights activist Munir Said Thalib, said her world went dark the moment she heard the news at the other end of the phone line in September two decades ago. The caller was Usman Hamid, Munir's colleague at Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras). Usman told her that Munir died mid-flight en route to Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Suciwati knew her husband was traveling to the Netherlands to pursue his studies at Utrecht University. "I did not believe that Munir had died when I heard the news," Suciwati said, recounting the moment in a video conference interview on Friday, December 19, 2025.
Usman said he felt torn when he had to deliver the devastating news to Suciwati. Before ending the call, he told her that he and several other human rights activists would come to the family home in Bekasi, West Java. Usman then organized a prayer gathering at the Kontras office with victims of human rights abuses who had once received legal assistance from Munir.
Suciwati broke down in tears when Usman and Munir's colleagues arrived at the house. The number of mourners continued to grow late into the night. Flower wreaths filled the streets around Munir's home.
Yet Usman already harbored suspicions about Munir's death that very night. He saw several state officials come to pay their respects. Senior executives from Garuda Indonesia also offered condolences to Suciwati and Munir's family. "Something was not right," said Usman, now Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia.
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