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Litigative Luhut demands audit of Greenpeace
Amid an ongoing defamation lawsuit against two activists, Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan has demanded a financial audit of Greenpeace Indonesia in an apparent response to its criticism of government deforestation claims.
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Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan gives a speech during the first harvest of a food estate in Humbang Hasundutan (Humbahas) regency, North Sumatra, on March 23. (Kemenko Marves/Kemenko Marves)
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mid an ongoing defamation lawsuit against two human rights activists, Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan has demanded a financial audit of Greenpeace Indonesia in an apparent response to its criticism of government deforestation claims.
The former Army general has accused Greenpeace of spreading misinformation in its criticism of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s speech at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, the United Kingdom, on Nov. 1.
In the speech, Jokowi said Indonesia had managed to bring the deforestation rate to a two-decade low, a claim the environmental watchdog rejected.
Greenpeace noted that according to official data, the rate of deforestation had, in fact, increased from 2011 to 2019.
Luhut questioned the credibility of the group’s statement, which he claimed was contrary to the government’s findings and data from international organizations. On Nov. 12, he threatened the watchdog with a financial audit.
A spokesperson for the coordinating minister, Jodi Mahardi, told The Jakarta Post that NGOs needed to be transparent in their organizational structure and funding details.
“Transparency is a two-way street,” he said on Tuesday, noting that the public had the right to information about the group’s sources of funding, particularly from foreign entities.
