A Grandfather In Soppeng South Sulawesi Sentenced To 3 Months For Cutting Teak Trees, Prosecutor: There Is No Evidence Of Land Ownership

ILLUSTRATION / Withered teak forest (DOK. ANTARA)

MAKASSAR - Natu bin Takka (75) with his son and brother-in-law in Soppeng Regency, South Sulawesi (Sulsel) was sentenced to 3 months in prison. Natu Takka was found guilty of cutting down 55 teak trees.

The AGO said that Natu could not prove the land where teak trees have been cut was his. The three people convicted have not been detained due to appealing.

"Well, the first one, he hasn't been imprisoned, it's still a legal effort, it's still an appeal. Then the second one is that from the investigation, until the trial he can't show that he owns the land, it's his right (to claim) that it's his land," Head of Law Information of South Sulawesi Attorney's General Office, Idil, told VOI, Saturday, February 20.

Idil explained that the land claimed by the farmer had been designated as a protected forest area since 2014 by the government through the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. The three of them have so far been unable to prove the land belongs to them.

"Regarding the land, there must be a basis for the right, usually a certificate, until the investigation begins, the case until he is decided by this man cannot show ownership. Then it was determined by the government by the Ministry of Forestry as a protected area in 2014," he explained.

Head of the Division of Economic, Socio-Cultural Rights of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) Makassar, Ridwan, who is also the defendant's legal adviser, said that this case began when Natu the farmer and their children and in-laws cut down teak trees that were previously said to be part of a protected forest area by the government.

"At first, in this case, Mr. Natu, together with his son and brother-in-law, cut down a tree that he allegedly claimed to have been in a protected forest area, so that around February 2020, officers from the Forestry Service were approached," he said, Friday, February 19.

Natu's grandfather, son, and brother-in-law were reported to be prosecuted at the Soppeng Police. The suspicion is that the felling of trees without the permission of the relevant authorities, Prevention and Eradication of Forest Destruction (UUP3H).

During the trial, Natu's grandfather, son, and brother-in-law were sentenced to 3 months in prison by the panel of judges at the Watansoppeng District Court on Tuesday, February 19.

"Then in the trial process later, the court decided that the defendant was found guilty, cutting trees in the forest area without permission from the authorities, then sentenced to 3 months in prison," said Ridwan.