Clean body needed on logging

Clean body needed on logging

JAKARTA: The success of a proposed regulation in lieu of law
(perpu) on eradicating illegal logging requires the establishment
of an independent body and court to specifically deal with the
issue, says an environmental expert.

"The body must include prosecutors and police officers who are
clean in terms of their records and have professional integrity.
The body should also be authorized to supervise, investigate and
prosecute," said Achmad Santosa of the Indonesian Center for
Environmental Law (ICEL).

He added that the authorities of the body could be justified
in the proposed perpu as legally, such authorities typically
rested with the police and prosecutors.

The court, he said, should also be exclusive and presided over
by judges who would deal only with illegal logging cases.

"The president can consult with the Supreme Court in
appointing the judges. Judges should also be rigorously screened
to provide qualified ones," he said.

Achmad also suggested the creation of a supervisory body that
included figures from non-governmental organizations, mass media,
the public and even the international community because illegal
logging was a global issue.

Minister of Forestry M. Prakosa said the perpu would become a
special law outside the existing criminal law and would enable
law enforcement officers to try illegal loggers immediately after
arrest.

Punishments for violations are to be severe, and includes the
death sentence. -- JP