- Land disputes between residents and oil palm plantation companies have resulted in legal tangles in West Sumatra. Zulkarnaini , a Bidar Alam farmer, was sentenced to five months in prison under the Plantation Law following a report by the palm oil company, PT Ranah Andalas Plantation (RAP). Zulkarnaini harvested on his own land which was in dispute and the company reported it as theft in 2020, the case will continue with trial in 2023.
- The Padang Legal Aid Institute (LBH) believes that the decision of the panel of judges at the Koto Baru Court against Zulkarnaini does not reflect justice because it ignores land conflicts and violations of company law.
- The process of developing oil palm plantations in Bidar Alam uses a partnership scheme between land owners — represented by Ninik Mamak — and companies . Their profit sharing is 40% for the land owner and 60% for the company.
- However , for more than 11 years the company has never implemented the contents of the agreement, so residents have protested and demanded their rights for years .
Land disputes between residents and oil palm plantation companies have resulted in legal tangles in West Sumatra. Zulkarnaini, a farmer from Nagari Bidar Alam , South Solok Regency, West Sumatra, was sentenced to five months in prison under the Plantation Law for a report by the palm oil company, PT Ranah Andalas Plantation (RAP). Zulkarnaini harvested on his own land which was in dispute and the company reported it as theft in 2020, the case will continue with trial in 2023.
"Decided that Zulkarnaini was guilty and sentenced to five months in prison minus the period of detention," said Dharma Setiawan, Chief Judge of the Koto Baru Solok District Court, last January 25. Member judges accompanying Aldi Naradwipa Simamora and Ade Rizky Fachreza as member judges.
They charged Zulkarnaini with Article 107 Letter d of Law Number 39/2014 concerning Plantations in conjunction with 55 of the Criminal Code.
The Padang Legal Aid Institute (LBH) believes that the decision of the panel of judges at the Koto Baru Court against Zulkarnaini does not reflect justice because it ignores land conflicts and violations of company law.
Alfi Syukri, lawyer for LBH Padang, said that the charges and demands against Zulkarnaini were very forced. Initially, Article 363 of the Criminal Code regarding theft was used, but there was a change after the public prosecutor heard testimony from criminal experts.
"The criminal expert stated that Criminal Article 363 must prove an evil mental condition, but the defendant asked permission from the company and the police before harvesting, showing that there was no evil mental condition."
By not fulfilling this article, the public prosecutor also used Article 107 Letter d of Law Number 39/2014 concerning Junto Plantations 55 of the Criminal Code.
Alfi said that the company was a lawbreaker and had no legality proven in court.
"Starting from the fact that the right to cultivate does not exist, the location permit is inactive and we have received a third warning letter from the Solok Government," he said.
Apart from that, the lawyer has also conveyed to the panel of judges that the legal claim that this article does not apply to members of customary law communities because of a decision by the Constitutional Court. Unfortunately, said Alfi, none of this was taken into consideration by the judge.
He said that the decision that came out ignoring the defense's arguments was a form of human rights violation.
"The judge has issued a decision as a form of court that has succumbed to the crimes committed by the company and does not have a fair perspective by considering how the incident occurred and the civil relations between the community and RAP," he said.
This decision, he said, would make the court's image worse in society.
Land disputes
Zulkarnaini, a farmer who fights for land rights and the environment. Previously, prosecutors charged Zulkarnaini eight months for alleged theft from an oil palm plantation with weighted charges.
The problem started with an agreement between Ninik Mamak, community leaders and land owners with RAP in 2007.
The process of developing oil palm plantations in Bidar Alam uses a partnership scheme between land owners – represented by Ninik Mamak – and companies. Their profit sharing is 40% for the land owner and 60% for the company.
However, for more than 11 years the company has never implemented the contents of the agreement until residents have protested and demanded their rights.
A second agreement between the community and the company was made again in 2014. In the agreement, it was agreed that two years after the company was unable to comply with plantation standards according to applicable regulations, the land would return to the community.
It's just that, he said, RAP continues to harvest so that it encourages people to also harvest. Moreover, he said, the community is under pressure economically and at the same time fighting for their rights because so far they have never received the 40% return according to the agreement.
When Bidar Alam residents were harvesting, he said, they were caught in the law due to reports of allegations of collective theft of palm fruit bunches on September 14 2020.
Previously, six people from Bidar Alam were detained. Now there is only one person left and a five month prison sentence.
The police report in 2020, he said, was suddenly continued in August 2023 on the grounds that it was delayed due to COVID-19. This case was entered into the Koto Baru Court, November 9 2023.
After about three months of trial proceedings, on December 25, the Koto Baru Court read out the verdict declaring Zulkarnaini guilty with a sentence of five months in prison minus the detention period from September 8 2023.
LBH Padang considers it necessary to restore the people who have suffered for decades because of permission from the government.
Diki Rafiqi, Coordinator of the LBH Padang Advocacy Division , assessed that the case in Bidar Alam, South Solok, was a violation of human rights (HAM).
On February 2, visited the RAP office in Padang City for confirmation but did not meet anyone from the company.
An employee gave the contact of a person named Sariful. When contacted he said the community looted it for four years but he was not prepared to give a long explanation.
“You just ask the local government or the South Solok Prosecutor's Office. Or South Solok Police. Sorry I can't provide a response," he said via WhatsApp message .