GREENPEACE ACTIVISTS FOLLOW POLICE ORDER TO LEAVE KAMPAR PENINSULA

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 14 (ANTARA) - Greenpeace activists --who set up a camp last month and sealed the heavy-duty equipment of PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) in Kampar Peninsula, Indonesia's province of Riau, two days ago -- left the location on Saturday after police gave them until 6 pm to leave the area.

        "Fifteen of the volunteers --who came there in protest against deforestation and peatland drainage-- have already left the camp while the other 35 are still packing their belongings," Southeast Asia Greenpeace forest campaigner Bustar Maitar said on Saturday evening.

        He said Greenpeace would not stop its fight to protect forests in Riau and would continue to call for protection of Kampar Peninsula forest and exert pressure on the company that had cleared the natural forest.

        However, according to latest negotiations the local police in Pelalawan had given them a security guarantee and until Sunday morning to leave.

        Earlier, chief of the Pelalawan police resort Adj. Chief Coms. Ari Rachman called on them to leave the site and vacate the 'Climate Protection Camp' as soon as possible around the peatland area.

        The call was directly made by the Pelalawan police resort chief when he had a dialog with the locals who held a rally against the presence of the Greenpeace activists.

        Rachaman said police would not take risk in maintaining the presence of the environmental activists in the area. He said he received orders from the Riau police chief to evacuate them in order to prevent physical clashes between the volunteers and local people.

        Since the activists' presence, tension between groups of local people who were for and against the activity had also increased although it was believed it was the company who had incited local sentiment against the environmental activists.

        Greenpeace's action took place on the Kampar Peninsula on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, on Thursday, where Greenpeace has set up a 'Climate Defenders' Camp'.

        The activists locked themselves to three excavators, owned by Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL), one of Indonesia's biggest pulp and paper producers, to prevent it destroying the rainforest to make way for tree plantations, grown to make pulp and paper for international customers, including UPM Kymmene.

        UPM-Kymmene is one of the world's leading forest industry groups and the leading producer of printing papers. It is a modern, efficient and focused forest industry company. It has production facilities in 15 countries and its main market areas are Europe and North America. UPM's shares are listed on the stock exchange in Helsinki. UPM creates value from renewable and recyclable.

        The activists decided to leave the area in an effort to prevent increasing tension among groups of local people.

        "Greenpeace is in a position where it has to make a hard decision for the sake of the interest of the local people," Greenpeace forest campaigner Bustar Maitar said.

        He added: "We are at a loss about what to do," he said. As an organization that shuns violence, he said, the organization did not want to see a communal conflict to happen after they had left.

        Maitar believed that the company was behind all this and therefore his side had asked the police to follow it up.

        "The license of PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) is not complete and therefore the company's action in clearing the forest is against the law. If the government acts as if it does not know it it means they are ignoring existing public norms," he said.

        He said Greenpeace would also hand over the camp set up last month on the side of Kampar River to the local community.

        It was reported on Friday that police have named 21 of the activists after they sealed the heavy-duty equipment of RAPP.

        The 21 were among 33 Greenpeace activists detained at the Pelalawan police resort after they sealed the heavy-duty equipment in a peatland forest area in the peninsula on Thursday, their lawyer Susilaningtias said.

        Twelve of the 33 Greenpeace activists are foreign nationals. They come from Brazil, Germany, Thailand, Spain and the Philippines.

        Their lawyer said the 21 activists are charged with committing an unpleasant act under article 335 of the Criminal Code and violating a ban on entry into a company's working area without a permit under article 551 of the code.

        "They may be penalized under articles 335 and 551 of the Criminal Code. It was a RAPP employee who reported them to the police," Susilaningtias said.

        However, police denied having arrested them. All the 21 suspects are from Indonesia.

        Chief of the Pelalawan police resort Adj. Chief Coms. Ari Rachman denied that the police had detained tens of Greenpeace activists after they sealed the heavy-duty equipment.

        "The police did not arrest but protected them after the local people had written to the Riau governor, the Riau provincial police and the Pelalawan police resort rejecting the presence of the Greenpeace activists," he said.***3*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/00:43/a014) (T.A014/A/A014/A/A014) 15-11-2009 00:54:45