Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Logging boss Adelin Lis walked away from court free of all charges Monday after the Medan District Court acquitted him of illegal logging activities.
The court said he had been proven not guilty of committing graft and forest destruction in Mandailing Natal regency, North Sumatra. Adelin's family members and supporters, who attended the trial, said they were elated by the court ruling.
But environmental activists said they were disappointed over the decision, saying it was unjust and that judges who pardoned the defendant must be examined. "The judges have been bribed," the activists said in a statement.
Presiding judge Arwan Birin said Adelin was acquitted from all criminal charges because he was not proven guilty of breaching the corruption and forestry laws.
Prosecutors had earlier charged Adelin, PT Keang Nam Development Indonesia (KNDI) financial director, to 10 years imprisonment and a Rp 1 billion (US$111,000) fine for violating Law No. 31/1999 on corruption and Law No. 41/1999 on forestry.
The panel of judges said both charges by prosecutors acting against Adelin had no legal grounds. Birin said the defendant had not been proven guilty because Adelin ran a private company which had never used state funds for its operations.
Birin said that with regard to the forest destruction allegations, the defendant was not proven guilty of illegal logging because the company had obtained a forest concession permit (HPH).
Prosecutors said they planned to file an appeal to the Supreme Court. "We will file (an appeal)... because the panel of judges had failed to put into consideration a number of important matters," prosecutor Harli Siregar told The Jakarta Post after the trial.
Harli said one of them was irregularities in HPH tax payments. "We want to prove this in the Supreme Court," Harli said.
When asked for a comment on the court ruling, Adelin said he was moved by the decision. "It turned out that there is still justice in the country," he said while leaving the court room.
Adelin's lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea said he had received information that certain parties wished to rearrest his client due to the ruling. "We received information that someone wants to detain our client following the verdict," said Hotman, without elaborating.