A large demonstration allegedly initiated by palm oil company Kallista Alam, which is accused of illegally destroying some of the world's most important remaining orangutan habitat on the west coast of Sumatra, disrupted a trial at the Meulaboh District Court on Friday where the Environment Ministry is suing the company for environmental damages.
The allegations of paying protestors came from the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program.
Judges were forced to adjourn the trial after around 150 people, believed to be paid by the company, arrived by bus and held a noisy demonstration demanding the judges rule in favor of the company.
The State Administrative Court revoked one of the company's palm oil concessions in September last year after it found that the company obtained the concession illegally and froze its assets.
"Kallista Alam is one of several palm oil companies that is involved in the slashing and burning of the Leuser Ecosystem during the past few years," said Ian Singleton, the director of the SOCP. "We praise the Indonesian Ministry of Environment on its action against PT Kallista Alam," Ian said.
He added that it was important to remind people that a potentially devastating new spatial plan proposed by the provincial administration still threatens huge swaths of Aceh's forests and their incredibly unique biodiversity, as well as Aceh's people and their economic livelihoods.
"If approved, this new plan is likely to lead to an upsurge of new legal cases due to the massive increase in environmental damage it will cause," Ian said.
Kamaruddin, an Acehnese lawyer who represented the local communities in their fight against Kallista Alam, said the Leuser ecosystem was in a state of emergency.
The Leuser Ecosystem is a national strategic area protected for its environmental function. It is currently illegal for any district, provincial or national leader to issue permits for palm oil, mining companies or any other activities that would degrade the environmental function of the Leuser Ecosystem.
"But powerful business lobbies are currently trying to undo this, not to support the community, but to line their pockets with the assets of Aceh," said Kamaruddin, adding that Friday's show of intimidation by Kallista Alam was just one example of many companies attempting to intimidate the legal and political processes of Aceh.
Using satellite information and a data analysis, Graham Usher, a landscape protection specialist with SOCP, highlighted the extreme sensitivity of Aceh's environment.
"Much of Aceh's remaining forests are on steeply sloping terrain that should be off limits to development under existing spatial planning regulations. "Clearing forests and building roads in such areas is simply not safe, and potentially disastrous," he said.