Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – The government should set up a special court to hear environmental crimes because suspects in illegal logging cases are evading justice in the regular courts, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) says.

Speaking from Medan, North Sumatra on Thursday, executive director Chalid Muhammad said dozens of suspects had been freed by courts in the past year despite compelling evidence they were involved in illegal logging.

An example was former Southeast Aceh regent Armen Desky's son, Marzuki Desky, who Walhi had evidence was involved in logging. He was freed by Southeast Aceh district court four months ago but the prosecutors were appealing the case.

"That's only one case. There are many other illegal logging suspects in this country who are going unpunished, like those responsible for the logging in Aceh, North Sumatra, Papua and West Kalimantan," Chalid said.

Walhi had proposed the idea of a special court to several House of Representatives legislators but had got no response, he said. "It's about time the government considers setting up such a court to ensure those responsible for illegal logging do not always escape justice."

Chalid believed judges and prosecutors tended to try illegal logging offenses as "ordinary" crimes and gave perpetrators light penalties or acquitted them. In reality, environmental crimes were complex and involved large amounts of money and serious corruption, Chalid said.

Illegal logging was also causing increasing numbers of natural disasters across the country. "In the past five years, disasters caused by illegal logging have tripled," Chalid said.

The floods and landslides that have devastated Sumatra in past weeks, killing at least 120 people and damaging thousands of houses, are being blamed on deforestation. The government, meanwhile, has pledged to encourage replanting to save the country's remaining forest.

Despite these promises, Chalid said the scale of damage at Gunung Leuser National Park had continued to increase from 2005-2006. Some of the timber illegally cut from the park is being used to build houses for tsunami victims in Aceh and Nias, while the rest is being sold abroad, he said.

Chalid said Walhi was planning to file a class action lawsuit against the government for its failure to deal with forest destruction. "We're tired of listening to the government's pledges of its commitment to deal with forest destruction, while every day deforestation continues at a rapid pace and illegal loggers walk free," he said.