A mediation meeting between the Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan (see photo), and the human rights activists Fatia Maulidyanti and Haris Azhar, ended without mutual agreement. The meeting on 21 October 2021 was held to seek a solution between the conflict parties outside of the law. The mediation process was facilitated by Yusri Yunus, the head of the public relations department of the Indonesian police, Polri.
Meanwhile, a second video published in early October 2021 on the social media platform YouTube revealed further allegations regarding links between high-ranking government officials and security force members with mining activities in Kalimantan and West Papua. The video quickly went viral with more than 109,000 views as of 26 October. The Coalition Cleaning-up Indonesia (Koalisi Membersihkan Indonesia), a group of Indonesian civil society organisations, has found more relations between mining enterprises and high-profile Indonesian officials. The former military general, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, appears to play a key role in the dubious mining operations.
The activists claim they identified the names of at least 17 Indonesian politicians, among them six former military officials, linked to mining operations in the two regions.
According to the video, Luhut Panjaitan’s son and military major, Paulus Panjaitan, is as well affiliated with mining company PT Buana Inti Energi and PT Toba Sejahtera, in which his father is a major shareholder. Other names mentioned in the video are military general, Hardi Sumardi, military general and former Minister for Religious Affairs, Fahur Razi. Both reportedly hold positions as commissioners at PT Toba Sejahtera.
According to the video, other high-ranking government officials allegedly affiliated with the mining operations are:
• former Transportation Minister, Yusman Syafii Djamal,
• former military general, Eko Wiratmoko,
• former chief of armed forces (1999 – 2000), Suaidi,
• former Minister of Research and Technology/National Research and Innovation Agency and former Minister of National Development Planning, Bambang Brodjonegoro,
• President Joko Widodo’s in-law, Arif Budi Solistyo
• President Joko Widodo’s sons, Kaesang Pangarep and Gibran Rakabuming
Background
On 22 September 2021, Luhut Pandjaitan officially reported the human rights defenders Fatia Maulidyanti and Haris Azhar to the Jakarta police. Fatia Maulidyanti works as a coordinator at Indonesian human rights NGO KontraS (Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence) while Haris Azhar is a lawyer and executive director of human rights NGO Lokataru.
