Papua forestry heads go on trial
Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura
A high-ranking forestry official stood trial on Tuesday for knowingly issuing illegal permits to loggers in Manokwari, West Irian Jaya.
At the Manokwari District Court, prosecutor Ari Sudihar charged defendant West Irian Jaya Forestry Office chief Marthen Luther Rumadas with abusing a scheme that allowed Papuans to selectively log timber for cultural reasons.
Rumadas, along with Papua provincial forestry office head Marthen Kayoi, were arrested by police on March 11 this year for issuing logging permits that were later deemed illegal.
The two are charged with violating the law on forestry. If found guilty, they could face a maximum sentence of five years' jail. Kayoi is expected to go on trial soon.
During Rumadas' trial on Tuesday, his lawyer Yassin said that the Manokwari District Court had no competency to prosecute his client.
Yassin told the panel of judges that Rumadas had made an administrative error and should be prosecuted by the State Administrative Court and not by the district court. Yassin also demanded the district court restore his client's tarnished reputation. The court session is adjourned until next week to hear the prosecutor's response.
Separately, the deputy chief of military police corp Brig. Gen. Hendardji said an officer from the Trikora military command overseeing Papua, Col. Richard Ginting, had been declared a suspect in a separate illegal logging case. He was currently being detained, Hendardji said.
The legal action comes after two environmental groups issued a high-profile report in February detailing the smuggling of about 300,000 cubic meters of timber a month from Indonesia -- mostly in Papua province -- to China.
The report, The Last Frontier, which made international headlines, revealed the largest timber smuggling case of a single species ever discovered, an operation estimated to be worth more than US$900 million a year.
The report, by the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and the Indonesian environmental group Telapak, revealed that Papua had become the main illegal logging hub in the country, identifying the Sorong, Manokwari, Fak Fak, Nabire and Serui regencies as the main illegal logging centers.
It alleged that the operation was supported and managed by high-ranking Indonesian Military officers working in cahoots with government officials and law enforcers.
Soon after the report's release the President instructed that an "integrated crackdown" be launched against all suspected parties, which led to the arrest of the two heads of forestry offices in Papua.
Police have so far detained and questioned 103 other people about illegal logging in the province, including Malaysian and South Korean nationals.