'RM25,000 to retract foul play claim'

The son of the late prominent anti-logging Penan leader Kelasau Naan claimed that he was offered up to RM25,000 to retract his statement that he suspected foul play in his father’s death.

The alleged offer was made by a person said to be a ‘runner’ for logging companies and connected to the local underworld.

"He asked me to sign a letter and told me, ‘If you sign, I will give you RM20,000 to RM25,000’ on condition that I keep quiet over my father’s death," Nick Kelesau told reporters at the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

Although the 43-year-old security guard refused to sign and accept the money, the same letter bearing his name and his ‘signature’ started making the rounds.

The letter , dated Jan 5, 2008, stated that Nick "does not suspect any foul play in the death" of his father, who headed the Penan village of Long Kerong in Upper Baram.

It further stated that Nick also denied the statements made to Malaysiakini earlier regarding suspicion that his father could have been murdered.

Kelesau, 80, had gone missing on Oct 23 last year after telling his wife, Uding Lidem, that he was going to check on an animal trap he had set near their hut.

When he did not return, the villagers mounted an extensive search using tracker dogs.

On Dec 17, they discovered Kelesau’s skull and the bones of his thighs, ribs and hands which suddenly surfaced near Sungai Segita, an area which the search party had combed earlier.

Apart from suspicion that he could have been killed because of his anti-logging activities, certain quarters also raised the possibility of tribal rivalry .

Fact-finding mission

Earlier, Nick met with Suhakam commissioners Dr Denison Jayasooria and Dr Mohd Hirmand Ritom. He was accompanied by his cousin Martin Bujang, their legal advisor See Chee How, relative Henry Nyaling and human rights group Suaram executive director Yap Swee Seng.

They requested Suhakam to conduct a fact-finding mission to Long Kerong to investigate Kelesau’s death as well as to push the Sarawak police to expedite their investigations into the matter.

Despite the police’s assurance that the probe was ongoing, they told the Suhakam commissioners that "not one police officer" had set foot in Long Kerong to investigate the matter, such as to examine Kelesau’s bones.

They also sought Suhakam’s assistance in getting timber giant Samling to halt all works in the disputed area of the Sela’an Linau Forest Management Unit (FMU) as there is a case pending at the Miri High Court over this.

They are concerned that the presence of Samling loggers on the villagers’ ancestral land could lead to violence as there is much tension between both parties.

When asked by Denison whether there were any threats or physical conflicts prior to Kelesau’s disappearance, Martin cited a June 16, 2007, incident.

He said several Samling workers had verbally abused and threatened the villagers when they confronted them.

Martin also denied that tribal rivalry could have led to Kelesau’s death and is convinced that his uncle had been killed because of his anti-logging activities.

Villagers moved out

In a related development, Martin reiterated that Long Kerong villagers had temporarily moved out of their village because of the appearance of ‘strangers’.

He said the villagers were not comfortable with the presence of these outsiders.

Martin was asked to comment on a Feb 11 report by the New Straits Times which stated: "A news portal operating from Kuala Lumpur had wrongly reported that most of the villagers had deserted Long Kerong, fearing for their safety."

"There are at least 40 families in Long Kerong, with some 15 children below seven and another 15 in a boarding school. No one has moved out and their padi was ripe for harvesting when the writer visited them," added the report.

Martin, who visits the village once every three weeks as he works elsewhere, said the villagers could have returned after they felt that tensions had abated.

"When I made the statement to Malaysiakini , the village was deserted," he added.

Meanwhile, Denison and Hirmand told the delegation that Suhakam cannot intervene in police criminal investigations once these have been initiated or affect the courts to stop Samling workers from entering Sela’an Linau FMU.

However, the commissioners said Suhakam will enquire with the police as to why there is little progress in the investigation and if any police officer had visited the village.

Denison said a Kuching-based senior police official told Suhakam commissioners last week that investigations had been conducted "on the ground."

"What we understand is that a police team went up to the area (concerned)," he said, expressing surprise over the allegation that no police officer had gone there.

Martin then said: "The head of the (nearest) Long Lama police station promised to come, but to date, he has not. If the police had come to Long Kerong, we would not have come (all the way) to Suhakam (in Kuala Lumpur)."