Pre-Trial Motion Rejected, Mastermind of Illegal Timber Smuggling in Sumatra to Stand Trial Soon

The suspect in the illegal forest timber transportation case, initialled MN, failed in his attempt to nullify his suspect status through the court. The single judge at the Medan District Court rejected all of his pre-trial motion requests in the ruling hearing Number 27/Pid.Pra/2026/PN Mdn on Tuesday (14/4). The judge stated that the determination of MN as a suspect by investigators from the Forestry Law Enforcement Agency for the Sumatra Region was legally valid. The investigators were deemed to have possessed three strong pieces of evidence before establishing the suspect status, namely witness statements, expert testimony, and physical evidence. The suspect determination procedure had also gone through a case review with the Coordinator of PPNS Supervisors at the North Sumatra Police. The Head of the Forestry Law Enforcement Agency for the Sumatra Region, Hari Novianto, said this ruling proves that the investigation conducted by his side has followed legal procedures. “This pre-trial ruling affirms the application of the principle ‘in dubio pro natura’ that in cases of doubt, the judge sides with the preservation of the environment. It also proves that our investigative actions have complied with the corridors of the Criminal Procedure Code,” Hari stated. MN is the figure who ordered the transportation of dozens of round logs from Lancat Village to a sawmill in Padangsidimpuan without the required Certificate of Legal Origin for Round Forest Timber documentation. In the arrest operation, officers seized four trucks containing mixed jungle timber amounting to 44.25 cubic metres. This case is a development from the previous arrest of four suspects initialled MG, AHH, ARH, and PB, who acted as the transporters. Those four suspects had also filed a pre-trial motion at the Padangsidimpuan District Court earlier this year, but it was rejected. Their case files have now been declared complete and are entering the trial stage. MN is charged under Article 16 in conjunction with Article 88 paragraph 1 letter a of Law Number 18 of 2013 on the Prevention and Eradication of Forest Destruction, as well as Article 20 of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code regarding participation in criminal acts due to his role in ordering the crime.