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Police officer named illegal logging suspect
Detectives at the Riau Police headquarters have named a middle-ranking police officer a suspect in a case of illegal logging that took place at the Giam Siak Kecil Bukit Batu biosphere reserve located in Siak and Bengkalis regencies
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etectives at the Riau Police headquarters have named a middle-ranking police officer a suspect in a case of illegal logging that took place at the Giam Siak Kecil Bukit Batu biosphere reserve located in Siak and Bengkalis regencies.
Riau Police Special Crimes division chief Sr. Comr. Yohanes Widodo said the suspect, identified as Comr. S., who once served as a district police chief in Siak regency, had officially been named a suspect after undergoing a lengthy examination.
Investigators had questioned Kompol S. three times since he was named a suspect.
'We are still building the case and will carry out the legal process professionally,' he said on Tuesday evening.
He said Comr. S. was believed to be in control of more than 200 hectares of peatland in the biosphere reserve that would be converted into an oil palm plantation.
'He bought the land, which was still a forest at the time, from residents in 2010. Today, nearly half of it has been planted with oil palms,' Yohanes said.
Although Comr. S. defended himself by saying he had bought the land from another person, Yohanes said the police had evidence that proved the suspect had occupied and cleared a protected forest.
He said the suspect would be charged for violating the 1999 Forestry Law and the 2013 Law on prevention and eradication of deforestation, which carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and Rp 10 billion (US$868,000) in fines.
The measure, he said, was also aimed at countering public accusations that police had been taking sides in handling forestry crimes, which cause forest and peatland fires in Riau.
