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Supreme Court reverses acquittal of former official in slavery case
Condemned internationally and at home, the former regent Terbit Rencana Perangin-angin, had been accused of human trafficking, torture, forced labor and slavery.
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A general view of the Supreme Court in Jakarta on July 22, 2024.
(AFP/Yasuyoshi CHIBA )
T
he Supreme Court has jailed the former regent of Langkat in North Sumatra accused of human trafficking for four years, reversing a lower court decision to acquit him after captives were found in cages in his palm oil plantation.
Condemned internationally and at home, the former regent Terbit Rencana Perangin-angin, had been accused of human trafficking, torture, forced labor and slavery.
Prosecutors launched an appeal after a lower court acquitted him of all charges in July.
Supreme Court justices sentenced him to four years in prison in a ruling dated Nov. 15 and seen on the court’s website on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court and prosecutors did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters has sought comment from Terbit's lawyer.
The macabre case came to light in 2022, not long after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested then-regent Terbit in January of that year for allegedly demanding kickbacks from private contractors in exchange for infrastructure projects.
The KPK and the North Sumatra Police found two cages in Terbit’s house holding dozens of people who are thought to have been forced to work on his oil palm plantation. The police started a separate investigation into the matter.
A police investigation found 665 people had been held in cells on his property since 2010, court documents showed.
Terbit, who was jailed for nine years for corruption in 2022, had previously claimed the detained individuals were participating in a drug rehabilitation program.
Prosecutors said they had been tortured and forced to work on his plantation. Six had died in captivity, as found by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).
