Intan Setiawanty – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto mentioned that there is an unresolved illegal palm oil plantation which has not been executed despite having a legally binding decision 18 years ago. The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI) suspects that Prabowo was referring to the case of palm oil businessman Darianus Lunggguk (DL) Sitorus.
WALHI's Legal and Advocacy Manager, Teo Reffelsen, stated that the Supreme Court had issued a cassation decision on the case in 2006. However, the execution took place 18 years later.
"It is certain that the case 18 years ago is related to DL Sitorus, because it was indeed not executed," said Teo Reffelsen to Tempo when contacted on Sunday, August 17, 2025.
He mentioned that the cassation decision of the Supreme Court with the verdict number 2462/K/Pid/2006 dated February 12, 2007, ordered the seizure of a 47,000 hectare palm oil plantation in the Padang Lawas production forest area, North Sumatra, for the state. Expert calculations during the trial estimated that the state incurred losses of around Rp1.5 trillion due to the forest encroachment.
The Forest Area Regulation Task Force (PKH) led by the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes, Febrie Adriansyah, only carried out the physical execution on April 25, 2025. The executing prosecutors took over the land previously occupied by companies owned by DL Sitorus, namely KPKS Bukit Harapan, PT Torganda, Parsub Cooperative, and PT Torus Ganda.
The Head of Public Relations of the Attorney General's Office at that time, Harli Siregar, stated that the execution was part of enforcing the state's legal sovereignty after the land had been unlawfully controlled for nearly two decades.
Subsequently, the task force handed over the land to the Ministry of Forestry, which then transferred its management to PT Agrinas Palma, a state-owned enterprise in the palm oil sector.
WALHI questioned this policy. According to Teo, the court's decision required the land to be returned to the Ministry of Forestry for restoration, not to be re-managed by a company. "If it is transferred to PT Agrinas, it means that the state's loss of Rp1.5 trillion will not be recovered," he said.
WALHI urged the Ministry of Forestry to sue DL Sitorus and related companies to claim environmental compensation. The funds could be used to rehabilitate the Padang Lawas production forest. "The land should be restored and rehabilitated in line with its original function," Teo said.
In his speech on Friday, August 15, 2025, Prabowo stated that there had been a legally binding court decision 18 years ago, ordering the seizure of illegal palm oil plantations. However, he said, at that time no law enforcement agency was willing to execute it.
"But I have ordered (the plantations) to be taken back by the state, and for this, we have utilized TNI forces to guard the teams controlling the plantations," he said.