RUTENG (UCAN/RVA News): Police in Catholic-majority Flores Island, Indonesia, summoned two farmers and two local activists and accused them of sedition over a planned protest during the upcoming summit of Southeast Asian leaders over the compensation for houses and land clearing for a road UCAN reported.
On May 5, Dominikus Safio Bion and Viktor Frumentius, and activists, Doni Parera and Ladis Jeharun, had applied for permission to hold a rally on the first day of the May 9 to 11 ASEAN summit in front of the venue in Labuan Bajo, a popular tourist town.
However, the West Manggarai District Police issued a summons on May 7 and accused them of sedition.
Doni Parera, an activist, expressed surprise at the police action “because we only want to voice out problems that have not yet been resolved amid the excitement over ASEAN summit.”
He noted, “If in the midst of this ASEAN summit moment, the rights of citizens are ignored, in the future I am very unsure that the rights of citizens will be fulfilled.”
Parera said, “We will only cancel the rally if there is a sure guarantee that the residents’ right to compensation is fulfilled.”
…at least 51 families from the villages of Cambi, Nalis, and Kenari, most of whom were farmers, were evicted while 23 houses, 14,050 square metres of yards, 1,790 square metres of rice fields, and 1,080 square metres of fields were appropriated by the government without any compensation
The protesters are demanding compensation for the road project leading to the special economic zone in Golo Mori, some 25 kilometres to the south of Labuan Bajo. The 23 metre wide stretch of road was inaugurated by Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, on March 14.
They alleged that at least 51 families from the villages of Cambi, Nalis, and Kenari, most of whom were farmers, were evicted while 23 houses, 14,050 square metres of yards, 1,790 square metres of rice fields, and 1,080 square metres of fields were appropriated by the government without any compensation.
Frumentius said they were determined to hold the rally, “because we only ask for compensation, according to what is guaranteed by Indonesian law.”
The protesters denounced the April 27 appeal of the East Nusa Tenggara Province police chief, Johni Asadoma, calling on the residents “not to take action during the event.”
The summons to the residents is clearly part of an effort to obstruct and frighten, an integral part of silencing the freedom of assembly and expression
In a statement on May 8, a coalition of civil society groups, including the Franciscans’ Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission, called the accusations of sedition “absolutely fabricated and a real mistake by the police.”
The coalition said, “The summons to the residents is clearly part of an effort to obstruct and frighten, an integral part of silencing the freedom of assembly and expression.”
Bishop Siprianus Hormat of Diocese of Ruteng, which covers the area, in a May 6 pastoral letter published by RVANews, asked Catholics to help make the summit successful by creating a “cool, comfortable, and joyful atmosphere for the 11 ASEAN heads of state, their delegations, and all visiting tourists.”
RVANews reported the bishop as writing, “Let us demonstrate the splendour and nobility of culture to welcome guests of the Manggarai people to this illustrious international celebration.”
He concluded: “With any luck, the impetus of the ASEAN summit will become a literacy of hope in the realisation of holistic tourism that is participatory, cultural, and sustainable on the land of Congka Sae Manggarai Raya, Nusa Bunga Island, Flores.”
Ano Susabun, from Labuan Bajo-based advocacy group, Sunspirit for Justice and Peace, said they had prepared a legal team to accompany the residents and activists.
“The demonstration is also planned to continue and be escorted by a legal team if violence occurs against them,” he said.
According to a UCAN report on March 16, the Society of the Divine Word’s Commission for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, said that the government had not paid attention to the plight of those evicted for the road project in Labuan Bajo
“The good road to Golo Mori has sacrificed the rights of the residents whose homes and land were taken away without compensation,” Father Simon Suban Tukan, chairperson of the commission, said.
