Ulma Haryanto – Legal aid activists and supporters showed on Friday their backing for under-fire environmental group Greenpeace, which is being evicted from its office by the Jakarta administration for alleged zoning violations.

"YLBHI [the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation] and other NGOs have pledged to back up Greenpeace and give our support to them," said Alvon Kurnia Palma, deputy chairman of YLBHI.

The Jakarta Building Control and Monitoring Office (P2B) said it served notice to Greenpeace on Wednesday about the closure and would proceed with sealing off its headquarters on Jalan Kemang Utara in South Jakarta on Monday. It said the office had been built in an area designated for residential buildings only.

The YLBHI said the Jakarta administration's move was just a small part of a more widespread problem of discrimination against local NGOs.

Alvon cited an incident on Wednesday, when the YLBHI's headquarters was surrounded by dozens of troops from the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) when it was holding a public discussion on Freeport.

"Other NGOs such as ICW [Indonesia Corruption Watch] also had to face scrutiny when it was revealed they received funding from abroad," Alvon said.

Alvon also said the eviction letter P2B had been using was legally flawed. "It did not mention what bylaw the letter was issued on," Alvon said. "The letter only said, 'based on a DKI bylaw.' "

Berry Nahdian Furqan, executive director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), urged other activists to back up Greenpeace.

"Greenpeace has been campaigning for our forests and environment. Don't let environmental criminals win," Berry said, adding that Walhi and the YLBHI have agreed to temporarily accommodate Greenpeace should the sealing off take place. "We are ready to back up Greenpeace politically and concretely," he added.

Widyo Dwiyono, head of the South Jakarta P2B office, said his agency had given Greenpeace an extra 24 hours for the organization to relocate.

"According to the notice, the relocation should actually take place on Sunday," he said. "This is part of our regular law enforcement – – all buildings in the area that violate zoning regulations will face the same thing," he added. Widyo could not detail how many buildings his office planned to cite in the area.

Kemang is also home to scores of restaurants, bars, nightclubs and shops, few of which have ever been sealed off or cited for zoning violations.

The eviction follows several months of uneasy relations between Greenpeace and government officials. Greenpeace's Southeast Asia media campaigner Hikmat Soeriatanuwijaya claimed the group had been unfairly targeted after it launched a global campaign against Asia Pulp and Paper.

Last month, a Greenpeace UK forest campaigner was deported from Indonesia for reasons that were never made clear. That incident took place less than a week after the Greenpeace UK director was denied entry into the country despite arriving with a valid entry visa.