VZCZCXRO0897
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #0255/01 0440334
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 130334Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1475
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS COLL
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 3014
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5904
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 3588
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000255 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR OES/ENRC, EAP/MTS 
USTR FOR DBROOKS 
BANGKOK FOR RDM/A 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EAGR KGHG ECON PGOV ID
SUBJECT: ILLEGAL LOGGING: 5 INDONESIAN OFFICIALS, 19 OTHERS 
CONVICTED 
 
REF: A. 2008 JAKARTA 1961 
     ¶B. 2008 JAKARTA 935 
     ¶C. 2008 JAKARTA 778 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: The recent convictions of 24 suspects including 
three police officers reflect the Government of Indonesia's sincere 
effort to combat illegal logging.  Enforcement has had a clear 
dampening effect on illegal logging activity, although forest 
conservation remains a major challenge.  Police ended illegal 
logging investigations of 13 companies due to insufficient evidence 
but insisted that they would not hesitate to investigate suspected 
illegal activities in the future.  End Summary. 
 
Police, Forestry Officials among 24 Sentenced 
--------------------------------------------- 
¶2. (U) During the week before Christmas 2008, a court in Ketapang, 
West Kalimantan, convicted 24 individuals on charges related to 
illegal logging.  Among the 24 were the head of the local forestry 
service office and one of his staff, as well as the police chief and 
two of his subordinates.  The remaining 19 included 12 boat captains 
and seven owners of timber seized by the authorities.  Sentences 
ranged from nine months' imprisonment and one million rupiah 
(approximately USD 90) fines for the boat captains to three years 
imprisonment and five million rupiah (approximately USD 450) fines 
for the police officials. 
 
¶3. (U) Although prosecutors had requested more severe sentences (six 
years' imprisonment and 50 million rupiah, or USD 4500), the 
convictions were broadly welcomed by civil society.  In part because 
of this major operation, the regional director of one environmental 
NGO acknowledged that enforcement and handling of illegal logging 
cases in West Kalimantan had improved during 2008.  The West 
Kalimantan police registered a total of 203 illegal logging cases in 
2008, up from 143 in 2007. 
 
¶4. (U) Background: In a large joint operation with national forestry 
officials in April 2008, the Indonesian National Police (INP) seized 
19 vessels carrying 12,000 illegally harvested logs worth over $23 
million (reftels) in Ketapang.  The operation reflected President 
Yudhoyono and the Indonesian National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso 
Danuri's continuing commitment to combat illegal logging. 
 
East Kalimantan: Illegal Logging on Decline 
------------------------------------------- 
¶5. (SBU) In East Kalimantan, anecdotal evidence indicates that 
official action against illegal logging has impacted local 
businesses.  In Tarakan City, some of the smaller hotels have closed 
and other small and medium enterprises that depend on the lumber 
trade are struggling, according to residents.  Hotel managers and 
taxi drivers believe that the government crackdown on illegal 
logging is responsible for this decline, having reduced the 
availability of inexpensive wood. 
 
¶6. (U) According to East Kalimantan Police Chief Andi Masmiyat, his 
force registered 124 illegal logging cases--108 of which are still 
under investigation--in 2008.  These cases included the seizure of 
over 11 million cubic meters of wood, 36 boats, and other logging 
equipment. 
 
Riau, Sumatra: Illegal Logging Investigations End 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
¶7. (U) In January, officials announced that they would release up to 
two million cubic meters of suspect wood which they had seized in 
Riau Province since 2007.  The wood belonged to 13 out of 14 
companies that the police had been investigating on charges related 
to illegal logging.  In December 2008, the provincial police decided 
to end their investigation of the 13 companies.  According to Riau 
Police Chief Brigadier General Hadiatmoko, the police and public 
prosecutor concluded that there was insufficient evidence of 
criminal behavior, following expert opinions provided by the 
Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Forestry. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Many NGOs criticized the decision.  Two of the NGOs whose 
activism prompted the police investigation claim that expert opinion 
was manipulated.  Two university forestry experts who assisted the 
police were later replaced by an expert from the Ministry of 
Forestry office responsible for commercial forest plantations.  The 
NGOs are still waiting to receive a copy of the official police 
order that closed the investigation, in order to examine its 
justification for doing so.  Police Chief Hadiatmoko has insisted, 
however, that the authorities would not hesitate to investigate any 
 
JAKARTA 00000255  002 OF 002 
 
 
suspected illegal activities in the future. 
 
¶9. (U) Still, encroachment in forests (including national parks) 
remains a major challenge (reftels).  In East Kalimantan, less than 
30 percent of the 198,000 hectare Kutai National Park remains 
unaffected by encroachment and clearing.  In Sumatra, at least 
200,000 of Kerinci Seblat National Park's 1.4 million-hectares have 
been lost to encroachment and logging. 
 
HUME