Demonstration In Front Of Bengkulu District Court, Students Ask For Justice Against The Alleged Thief Of 8 Tons Of Palm Oil

Students and the community of Jenggalu Village demonstrate in front of the Bengkulu District Court, Monday (18/4/2022). AMONG

BENGKULU - Dozens of students from various elements demonstrated to demand justice for eight defendants involved in the theft of eight tons of palm oil on the former land of PT Muara Jenggalu in Seluma Regency, Bengkulu.

Action coordinator, Alboin Samosir, said the theft accusations made against eight people and students were incorrect. The reason is that until now, he said, PT Agri Andalas did not have a Hak Guna Usaha (HGU) permit.

"Because the land is actually after the HGU expires in 2016 it must be returned to the state", said Alboin in Bengkulu, quoted from Antara, Monday, April 18.

The mass of students from the Catholic Students Association of the Republic of Indonesia (PMKRI), the Bengkulu Papuan Students Association, and the people of Jenggalu Village filled the Bengkulu District Court on Monday, April 18.

According to Samosir, the arrest of the eight people was a form of silence and a violation of the law. Because residents are accused of stealing on land or state land.

Therefore, he hopes that the public prosecutor (JPU) pays attention to the facts in the trial, pays attention to the sense of justice of the community as well as existing evidence such as the HGU permit so that the judge should acquit the eight defendants.

The head of the Bengkulu District Court, Jon Sarman Saragih, said that the case is currently still in the memorandum of defense so that the eight defendants have not been found guilty by the district court and still have to go to trial.

"The conclusion is that currently no defendant has been found guilty in court before a decision has legal force", he said.

Previously, five defendants of the theft of eight tons of palm oil on the former land of PT Muara Jenggalu in Seluma Regency, namely SG, DL, ZL, SU, and HA, were sentenced to two years in prison by the Bengkulu High Prosecutor's Office.

Because the five defendants were proven to have legally violated Article 363 paragraph 4 of the Criminal Code, and three other defendants namely JM, FE, and AL were sentenced to 2 years in prison because they were proven to have violated Article 160 of the Criminal Code.