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)