Cirebon mayor sues sultan over land dispute

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Cirebon administration is suing the city's Sultan Sepuh Maulana Pakuningrat XIII for allegedly acquiring illegally 337 hectares of state land, worth around Rp 1.69 trillion.

Local police summoned the sultan for questioning on Thursday following a recent report filed by the city's administration through its regional development company.

Chief of the Cirebon district police Adj. Sr Comr. Krido Sudibyo confirmed the lawsuit against the local nobleman. "We want to seek clarification from the accused party by questioning him."

The sultan, however, denied the accusation against him as groundless. On behalf of his father, Crown Prince Adipati Arief Natadiningrat said the land was located at the Harjamukti, Argasunya and Karyamulya areas inside the city.

Arief said the land, which was valued at around Rp 500,000 per meter, are categorized as Merdika land whose management is carried out by the palace.

He further said the communal land was part of the heritage bequeathed to the Kesepuan Palace by Cirebon's previous sultans.

"The right was obtained in 1890 because the Kesepuan Palace did not want to be involved in a political contract with the Dutch ruler at the time," Arief added.

"Kings or sultans then involved in the political contract were given land in the area under the Swapraja system, meaning that those managing it were not obliged to pay tax to the Dutch ruler."

He said all the Swapraja land was later nationalized in 1960 by the then president, Sukarno, who then introduced a land reform policy.

However, the 337 hectares of disputed land were not affected by the nationalization policy as they were categorized as Merdika land.

Accompanied by his father's lawyers Joko W.P. and Doddy T. Basuni, Arief said the Cirebon administration had to prove that the disputed land was Swapraja, in which case they could seize it.

"However, the city's government has not so far been able to produce any proof supporting its claim over the land," he added.

Krido also acknowledged that the police did not have sufficient evidence to charge Sultan Maulana with illegal plunder of the land.

"It means that the accusation by the city's administration is legally weak. Both sides should solve their case amicably," the local police said.

Cirebon Mayor Lesmana Suryaatmadja, owner of the city's regional development company, has, meanwhile, often avoided journalists seeking his comments on the dispute with the sultan.

Other local senior officials were tight-lipped over the land case.

Speaker of the Cirebon legislative council Suryana asked the city's administration and the sultan to resolve the case out of court.

"But we have always felt awkward facilitating an amicable solution for them because representatives from the city's administration have never responded to our invitations. I suspect the city's government has no political will to settle the case," he added.