Pressure mounts on police to free Toba Pulp protesters
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan
Pressure is mounting on the police to release 16 people arrested for protesting against the planned reopening of the PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL) pulp mill in Porsea, North Sumatra, as the Sweden- based NGO, Jij Vecht Tegen Onrecht, protested the arrests on Friday.
The Jij Vecht Tegen Onrecht director for Asia, Mr. Vandevoort, delivered a letter to National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar to protest the arrests, calling for the immediate release of the detainees.
"The police's move to arrest the protesters, whose rights are protected by law, is actually a form of terrorism aimed at supporting the reopening of PT Inti Indo Rayon, which has now changed its name to PT Toba Pulp Lestari," he said in a letter, a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post on Friday.
The detainees, including two church ministers, are still undergoing intensive interrogation in Tarutung police station, North Tapanuli. They were arrested for their alleged involvement in the ransacking of a district head's office during a protest last Thursday.
Vandevoort said the detainees should be released to avoid more protests, and the security personnel deployed to protect Porsea should be pulled out.
TPL, whose operations were halted temporarily, is widely opposed in the province for its failure to work together with Porsea residents and to comply with environmental regulations.
Separately, Johnson Panjaitan, coordinator of the advocacy team for the Porsea residents, condemned the arrests, which he said were part of a systematic strategy designed by the authorities and the mill management to reopen the factory.
He said he was very disappointed with the police because the detainees were not allowed to receive visitors or to have lawyers present during interrogation.
Johnson who, along with Tunggul Sirait, a member of the House of Representatives, was refused permission to meet with the detainees, said those arrested were in a weak state as they had been mistreated during interrogation.
The advocacy team has sued the police for what he called "arbitrary arrests".
Johnson said hundreds of Porsea residents would stage another demonstration near the pulp mill in Sirait Uruk on Saturday to greet Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea, who was scheduled to hold meetings with local officials and traditional leaders at the mill site.
Sr. Comr. Iskandar Hasan, the provincial police chief of detectives, denied that the detainees had been mistreated.
"The interrogators would be punished if they were found guilty of abusing the detainees," he said.
He said nobody was being allowed to visit the detainees as the investigation was still underway.
Iskandar said the police would enhance security in Porsea in connection with the minister's visit. While people could stage demonstrations, they would have to be held in accordance with the law.