Innocent Pari Island Fisherman Sues Authorities for Misconduct

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Sulaiman, a fisherman from the Pari Island from the Thousand Islands (Kepulauan Seribu) that was taken to court as a suspect of trespassing by the police has decided to sue the police institution and prosecutor after he was found innocent by the panel of judges.

Sulaiman sued the police and prosecutor for biased law enforcement and misplacing a crucial investigation report (BAP) of a witness testimony in his favor. On which the police claimed they had lost.

“We will report the police, prosecutor, that conducted the legal proceedings against Sulaiman,” said Sulaiman’s lawyer, Nelson Nikodemus Simamora at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) in Central Jakarta on Sunday, November 18.

Fortunately, on November 13, Head Judge Ramses Pasaribu that led the court trial found Sulaiman innocent of all charges.

Nelson strongly urges Indonesian Police Chief Tito Karnavian to evaluate his police personnel who allegedly criminalized a vocal citizen that fought against a corporation’s attempt to snatch fields of land at the Pari Island owned by local residents.

Previously in 2017, President Director of PT Bumi Raya Utama Pintarso Adijanto accused Sulaiman of snatching parts of land Pintarso owned at the island, which is located in an area of islands known to be Jakarta’s main tourist attraction.

Pintarso accused Sulaiman of wrongfully managing seven homestays on top of land in Pari Island that was said to be owned by him. However, Sulaiman said that the homestays were previously owned by Surdin, which he had purchased from in 2012 from another individual under the name of Tarsim.

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH