Riau DPRD Member Named Suspect in Illegal Deforestation Case

Riau DPRD Member Named Suspect in Illegal Deforestation Case

Reporter

September 26, 2026 | 06:33 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Riau Regional Police have named F (initials), a member of the Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) in Kampar District, as a suspect in an illegal deforestation case that has been converted into a 60-hectare oil palm plantation. Director of Special Criminal Investigation, Commissioner Ade Kuncoro, stated that F has been questioned by investigators several times, both as a witness and after being named as a suspect.

“F was declared a suspect, related to the control or deforestation of the forest for the oil palm plantation,” he said in a written statement on Friday, September 25, 2026.

He explained that the case originated from an investigation of suspected deforestation in the XIII Koto Kampar Subdistrict, Kampar District, Riau. Based on the investigation results, the police suspected that the land was controlled by F and had been planted with oil palm.

However, despite being named a suspect, F has not been detained to date. Investigators are still conducting further examinations and completing the case files before determining the next legal steps.

This case expanded a deforestation case uncovered by the Riau Regional Police in June 2025. At that time, police arrested four individuals suspected of managing oil palm plantations illegally in the Limited Production Forest and Si Abu Protected Forest in Kampar District. They are MM (40), BT (48), Y (43), and MYT (50).

The suspects are believed to have played different roles, ranging from owners and managers to those who granted land through customary schemes. They are suspected of using several documents to make it seem as if their land control activities have an administrative basis. The documents used include donation letters, sales receipts, and work agreements. Currently, Riau Regional Police investigators are developing the case, looking into the possibility of other parties being involved.

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