Cirebon mayor sues sultan over land dispute
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.