Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The Indonesian Antigraft Society (MAKI) and legislators have questioned the recent acquittal by the Buntok District Court in Central Kalimantan of a Thai investor accused of violating forestry regulation and called on prosecutors to lodge an appeal to the High Court to uphold justice in the case.
MAKI executive director Boyamin Saiman urged the Judicial Commission to investigate the controversial verdict, which he said was concluded due to the interference of a judicial mafia allegedly involving the panel of judges and the investor's coal mining company, PT Multi Tambangjaya Utama (MTU).
"We have closely monitored the court, which can be easily bought in the remote regency. When the case was brought to court, MTU CEO Warayot Sermsaksakoon was held suspect for the company's violation of the 1982 ministerial decree on rainforest areas.
After several court sessions, Warayot was freed and his subordinate Watana Pundet, who is in charge of the company's operation in the mining site, was asked to take charge. In their verdict, the panel of judges acquitted Watana," he said after a meeting with the law and environmental affairs commissions at the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
He said MAKI suspected a bribe had been given by the company through its legal team to the judges who tried the case. "The police held the CEO as a suspect because his company was found guilty of exploiting vast tracts of rainforest in the regency. The governor recommended the company continue its mining activities in the forest while the case was still being processed in court," he said.
The panel of judges presided by Adeng Abdul Kohar acquitted Watana of charges in their verdict at the end of September because the coal company was not proven guilty of exploiting forestland in Buntok. Adeng said the condition of the forest when the ministerial decree was issued was far different from current conditions because the Central Kalimantan provincial government has yet to issue spatial planning regulations for rainforest areas in the province.
The team of prosecutors led by Sudi Hajendro was considering filing an appeal to the Higher Court.
House of Representatives law commission deputy chairman Azis Samsuddin and commission member Ruhut Sitompul, who is also a member of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, called on the Judicial Commission to look into the court's controversial verdict to help eradicate judicial mafia in remote district courts.
"The central government and local authorities should also monitor the operation of all coal companies in Kalimantan because their activities have impacted the state and local people," said Azis.
House's Commission VII deputy chairman on mining and environmental affairs Effendi Simbolon vowed to look into the case during his field tour to the province during the upcoming recess.
"The Corruption Eradication Commission should investigate the case because many foreign mining companies have overexploited coal deposits in Kalimantan while they have paid less in royalties to the state and have contributed little to empowering locals living near their mining sites," he said.
MTU's director of technical affairs Bagus Jaya Wardhana declined to comment on the court's verdict and said he knew very little about the case because he spends most of his time in Jakarta.
MTU spokesman Daniel said his company and its legal team had never paid bribes to the panel of judges to buy the verdict and had instead relied on the judicial process.