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Law enforcement 'weak' against big business
Jakarta Post - April 4, 2015
NGO the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) said that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration, which took office on Oct. 20, 2014, had failed to persecute a number of companies that had conducted illegal logging activities, which had caused severe environmental damage in Indonesia.
The head of the NGO Henri Subagiyo said law enforcement in Indonesia was effective only in prosecuting poor people while it was weak against big firms. "Jokowi's slogan of law enforcement without discrimination has not been proven true," he said during a roundtable discussion on Thursday.
ICEL was referring to a number of companies allegedly involved in forest fires in Riau in 2014 against which the legal process appears to have met a dead end.
As previously reported, a massive forest fire in Riau in early 2014 sent haze to the neighboring countries of Malaysia and Singapore. Governments from the two countries complained to the Indonesian government, which launched a probe into several companies. No disclosures have yet been made.
ICEL also said that President Jokowi should prioritize enforcing environmental laws on big companies because they caused greater environmental damage.
"Forests are not just trees, if they [the government] simply perceive forests as trees then they will just end up jailing a helpless individual like grandmother Asyani," said Henri, who is also a lawyer.
Henri was referring to a 70-year-old woman in Situbondo who made headlines after being sentenced to three months in jail for allegedly stealing seven teak logs belonging to state forestry company PT Perhutani.
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