T

he Environment and Forestry Ministry is considering taking legal action against the people who allegedly held hostage and threatened officials from the ministry while they were investigating a forest fire.

Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said the ministry would first collect evidence on the incident, in which seven ministry officials were harassed by a group of people while they were investigating a forest fire in Rokan Hulu, Riau.

“Regarding the hostage incident, it’s a crime. We will soon study the procedural law. While we’re looking at the procedures, I believe the right thing to do is to collect data. If needed, we will file a report [of the incident to the police],” she said.

Late last week, ministry officials investigating the alleged involvement of PT Andika Permata Sawit Lestari (APSL) in a massive forest fire in the area were held hostage by individuals allegedly dispatched by the firm. The attack took place after the officials collected photographic evidence of an alleged forest clearance carried out through burning.

PT APSL issued a statement denying its involvement in the hostage-taking incident, saying it had not directed the local farmers to take action against the officials.

Siti said the incident would not deter the ministry from proceeding with its investigation and thus the legal process against the company would continue.

“We are concentrating on the forest fire as well as the land encroachment,” she said.

Siti added that she would report the incident to Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto.

“The President has also been notified. So regarding the hostage incident, we haven’t taken any official legal steps. But in terms of the forest fire and the permit case, we will surely process them,” she said.

The incident was the first time that the ministry’s law enforcement personnel had been met with such a serious kind of threat.

The ministry had therefore called on the National Police to provide protection for its investigators.

The ministry’s law enforcement director general, Rasio Ridho Sani, said protection from the police would be crucial for future investigations into the practice employed by companies of illegally clearing land by burning it.

Rokan Hulu resort police chief Sr. Adj. Comr. Yusuf Rahmanto said he would wait for the ministry to file a report on the incident before taking any steps.

“I don’t know [the next step] because there’s no questioning yet. There’s no report from the ministry so there’s no interrogation report yet,” he said.