Security guards employed by a wood supplier to Asia Pulp and Paper have allegedly beaten to death a local villager during an argument on a plantation in Sumatra.
Local police chief Bambang Sudarisman says 22-year-old Indra Pelani and his friend Nick Karim were passing through the plantation on their way to a rice harvest and got into an argument with the guards for supplier Wira Karya Sakti when crossing a checkpoint.
He says the argument turned violent and Pelani was beaten while Karim fled. By the time Karim returned with about 30 villagers, Indra was missing and the security officer on duty denied knowing anything about the incident.
After a search by police, Pelani’s body was found in a swamp several kilometres away showed signs of severe beating and stab wounds. His feet were bound with rope and his mouth stuffed with a t-shirt.
Sudarisman says police are hunting seven suspects they believe were involved in the beating, who are now on the run.
[Related: Read the whole APP saga]
Pelani was an activist in local farmers’ union and environmental group Walhi. Wira Karya Sakti, a wood supplier to APP, has been in conflict with local villagers over land claims for years.
APP has ordered the supplier to suspend all of the personnel alleged to be involved in the incident, along with the security team commander and the supplier’s head of security, while the investigation plays out.
Environmental organisation Greenpeace has suspended its support for APP, with which it had been working with on implementing the paper giant’s Forest Conservation Policy, until the case is ‘settled in a transparent and fair manner’.
“They have declared themselves to be a responsible company. If APP doesn’t take this seriously, it will cost them their reputation,” the organisation says.
APP released a statement saying it will “appropriately support the family, the community and continue to assist with the police investigation”.
“We condemn violence and we support Greenpeace’s decision to focus its efforts on this issue. We are committed to putting all of our resources into working with the community, Greenpeace, Walhi and the police to ensure that justice is done,” it says.
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