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Police round up 22 suspects in antimining activist's death
The East Java Police have named 22 suspects alleged to be responsible for the lynching of a local farmer who mobilized a protest against invasive sand-mining in his village
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he East Java Police have named 22 suspects alleged to be responsible for the lynching of a local farmer who mobilized a protest against invasive sand-mining in his village.
East Java Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Raden Prabowo Argo Yuwono told reporters on Tuesday that the 22 suspects were among 36 individuals arrested earlier by the Lumajang Police in East Java for their alleged involvement in the beating to death of Samsul, also known as Salim Kancil.
'We have already searched the crime scene and questioned witnesses. There are now 22 suspects based on the evidence found during our probe into the crime scene,' he said.
Investigators handling the case did not detain three of the suspects as they were minors.
Argo said that based on the interrogation, police investigators believed the beating was carefully planned and not a spontaneous event.
The police were zeroing in on the local village head who was suspected to have masterminded the murder, he added.
'The police are continuing to question the village head and if we can find evidence that he was the brains behind the assault that led to [Salim's] death, then we must enforce the law,' he said.
However, Argo declined to disclose the names of all suspects and would not specify whether they were connected to a mining company operating in the area.
'Based on our work at the crime scene, we can't claim that there was any involvement by a mining company,' he said.
Argo, however, said that the police would move to shut down the sand quarry that Salim protested as it did not have a licence to operate.
The 22 suspects would be charged under articles 338 and 170 of the Criminal Code and could face a maximum prison sentence of 15 years for murder.
On Saturday, Samsul was beaten to death by a group of people in Selok Awar-Awar subdistrict, Pasirian district, Lumajang. The murder has sparked nationwide condemnation and prompted calls for the authorities to find those responsible for the death.
The same group also allegedly assaulted 51-year-old Tosan, leaving him in a critical condition.
Three days before the incident, the two victims, along with dozens of fellow villagers, staged a rally to protest against sand-quarrying activities at Watu Pecak Beach, also in Selok Awar-Awar. The protestors claimed that the mining damaged the environment, leaving holes 5 meters in diameter and a meter deep on the beach.
The protest halted the quarrying and blocked dozens of trucks from transporting sand.
Lumajang, home to 1 million people, is located some 150 kilometers southeast of Surabaya, East Java's provincial capital.
East Java has 86,904 hectares of mining areas currently managed by 378 entities, making it the second-largest mining province after West Java, which hosts 206,681 ha of mining sites operated by 455 entities.
Meanwhile, East Java Governor Soekarwo vowed to audit the licences of all sand-quarrying locations in the province following Salim's death.
'I am sure that the sand quarry in Selok Awar-Awar, Pasirian district, Lumajang, is an illegal mining operation because mining permits are not easy to obtain since mine developers must spend reclamation funds to repair the holes. We will shut down their operation,' he said on Tuesday.
Head of the East Java Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) agency, Dewi Putratni, also confirmed that the mining operation in Selok Awar-Awar could be considered illegal.
'Since 2015, the East Java ESDM agency has only given out one permit for a sand quarry in Lumajang. The documents for all the mineral and coal permits published by the regent should be submitted to the provincial administration,' she said.
Separately, a member of House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs, human rights and security urged law enforcement agencies to swiftly resolve the case and uncover the mastermind behind the murder.
'There is an unseen force that was uncomfortable with the way [Salim] Kancil operated. We all know that all permit processes involve local authorities,' Commission III deputy chairman Mulfachri Harahap said.
