Environmental Defender Vincent Kwipalo Files Criminal Complaint Against PT Murni Nusantaran Mandiri at National Police Headquarters (Mabes Polri)

Since 2024, an environmental defender and leader of the Kwipalo clan, Vincent Kwipalo, from Blandin Kakayo Village, Jagebob District, Merauke Regency, has opposed the operation of the sugarcane plantation company PT Murni Nusantara Mandiri in their customary territory. According to him, the customary land, hamlets, and forests of the Kwipalo Clan are the source of life for the Indigenous community, providing food, livelihood, and medicinal plants that sustain them from generation to generation.

Vincent stated, on behalf of the Kwipalo Clan, that “not even an inch of our land will even be given to PT Murni Nusantara Mandiri. We know the boundaries of our ancestral territory. If our forests are gone, then where will we and our children and grandchildren live?”

Despite this, PT Murni Nusantara Mandiri continues to pursue its business interests by expanding plantation areas with conducting land measurements, marking boundaries, clearing areas, and destroying customary forests, hamlets, and swamps. Company workers and members of the military have repeatedly approached and pressured Vincent, where it caused distress and intimidation.

In response, the Kwipalo Clan placed Sasi Permater (customary prohibition signs) and warnings forbidding entry into the territory, along with red boundary markings. However, PT Murni Nusantara Mandiri, which does not possess legal Hak Guna Usaha (HGU) land-use and only holds risk-based business licensing and spatial-use approval by government officials (Penanaman Modal dan Pelayanan Terpadu Satu Pintu), has continued clearing the Kwipalo customary forests, including the sacred forests of Cacibi, Abakin, Agodai, and Congyap.

Additionally, military infrastructure has been found constructed in the hamlet of Muckai since June 2025, carried out without consultation or consent from the customary landowners.

“We have already reported this encroachment and seizure of our customary rights to local and national governments, as well as to the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) in Jakarta, and to the regional police and military authorities, but there has been no response,” said Vincent.

Today, Tuesday, 4 November 2025, Vincent, accompanied by legal advocates from Solidaritas Merauke, Emanuel Gobay, S.H., M.H., and Asep Komarudin, S.H., along with their team, filed a criminal report on the alleged misappropriation of customary land and plantation-related criminal acts by PT Murni Nusantara Mandiri. The report names the company’s Directors, Commissioners, and relevant officials from the Investment and One-Stop Service Office (Dinas Penanaman Modal and Pelayanan Terpadu Satu Pintu) as responsible parties. The report was received by Yudi Bintoro, S.H., M.H., at the Report Intake Division of the Indonesian National Police Headquarters, Jakarta, under Police Report Number: LP / B / 544 / XI / 2025 / SPKT / BARESKRIM POLRI dated 4 November 2025.
Legal Counsel Emanuel Gobay stated, “Today we have reported the alleged criminal acts of misappropriating customary land and plantation crimes committed by PT Murni Nusantara Mandiri, suspected of violating Article 385(1) of the Indonesian Criminal Code and plantation-related criminal provisions under Articles 55 and 107 of Law No. 39 of 2014 on Plantations.”

The Kwipalo Clan is recognized as an Indigenous community with constitutionally protected rights under the 1945 Constitution, Law No. 39/1999 on Human Rights, Law No. 2/2021 on Papua Special Autonomy, and Papua Provincial Regulation No. 5/2022 on Recognition and Protection of Indigenous Peoples.

Emmanuel Gobay explained that those provisions provide legal guarantees to the Kwipalo Clan as one of the clan groups within the Malind Anim Indigenous community. These guarantees include rights over territory, land, and resources; the right to implement resource-management practices; the right to enter into agreements with third parties concerning the use of natural resources and to obtain benefits from that use; and the right to information and participation in the management of natural resources.

The Kwipalo Clan, part of the Yei Indigenous group, has also received formal recognition of its customary territory through Merauke Regent Decree No. 100.3.3.2/1413/2024 concerning the Recognition, Protection, and Respect for Customary Law and Customary Territories of the Yei Tribe in Merauke Regency. However, PT Murni Nusantara has ignored and violated these rights. As attorney Asep Komaruddin stated, “Without any negotiation or approval from Mr. Vincent Kwipalo as the customary landholder, the company entered Kwipalo land, destroyed customary forests, damaged traditional crops and long-term plantations, eliminated food sources and hunting areas, and even destroyed sacred territories.”

The presence and activities of the company have caused social tension, inter-clan conflict, and threats against customary leaders.

“We, Solidaritas Merauke, as legal representatives of Vincent Kwipalo, call on the Chief the Indonesian National Police to receive and act on this criminal complaint regarding the misappropriation of customary land,” urged Emanual Gobay.

Additionally, Asep Komaruddin, Senior Forest Campaigner at Greenpeace Indonesia and co-counsel, requested that the National Police immediately halt all forest clearing activities by PT Murni Nusantara Mandiri in Kwipalo territory and ensure legal protection for the Kwipalo Indigenous community, referring to Article 66 of Law No. 32/2009, which states that environmental defenders cannot be prosecuted criminally or civilly.

Jakarta, 4 November 2025
Legal Counsel

EMANUEL GOBAY, S.H., M.H.
Contact: +62 821-9950-7613

See photos here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1MbRQdDG2UGvEPvyAkhVWmYIMBPKsB_jJ?usp=sharing