Class action for demonstrators

Class action for demonstrators

BANDUNG (JP): A Bandung-based environmental law expert Daud
Silalahi said here on Wednesday that demonstrators who caused
damage to the environment deserved prosecution through a class
action.

Enraged by the recent felling of trees by President
Abdurrahman Wahid loyalists in several towns in East Java two
weeks ago, Daud said that all levels of society should respond to
the impact of the destructive actions.

"Let's sit together and do something to give a stern warning
to those demonstrators and ask them not to repeat their
destructive actions," Daud said.

"A class action is legally possible. Articles 40 to 48 of the
Environment Law No. 23/1997 says that individuals, groups or
corporate bodies are entitled to defend the environment, and
trees along the streets are public assets. The articles also say
that individuals or groups who are proven guilty of damaging the
environment are subject to punishment."

Daud said, however, that class actions must not become a
political commodity. "It's just to warn everybody that cutting
down trees haphazardly is against the law. Trees play a
significant role in the ecosystem." (25/sur)