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The Hague dedicates street name to slain rights defender Munir
Jakarta Globe - April 14, 2015
"[Today], a Munir Lane will be unveiled in The Hague, The Netherlands, in honor of the Indonesian human rights defender Munir Said Thalib," it said.
Munir died in 2004 on board a flight from Indonesia to the Netherlands after being served coffee spiked with arsenic. Dutch authorities investigating his death proved he had been poisoned. Three people were convicted for involvement in the murder, but many believe they were acting on orders from intelligence agents.
The ceremony unveiling the street sign will begin at the intersection of Munir Lane and Martin Luther Kinglaan in The Hague on Tuesday evening.
The mayor of The Hague, Jozias van Aartsen, Munir's widow Suciwati, and Amnesty International Netherlands director Eduard Nazarski are expected to attend the ceremony.
"Amnesty International is pleased that the municipality of The Hague is paying tribute to Munir by remembering his name by naming a street after him," Nazarski said.
"Munir made extraordinary efforts to improve the human rights situation in Indonesia. He was a courageous and persistent man and we miss him dearly."
After the unveiling, Amnesty International and the municipality of The Hague will co-host a public meeting at Humanity House, where Suciwati will be the special guest.
Papang Hidayat, Amnesty International's Indonesia researcher, will give a presentation on human rights in Indonesia. The event will be moderated by Gerry van Klinken, a professor of Southeast Asian history at the University of Amsterdam.
In Indonesia, Munir is remembered as a well-known human rights defender involved in the investigation of cases of disappearances during the dying months of the Suharto regime.
He was also a key figure in the commissions on human rights violations in Aceh and East Timor.
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