Police said today they had arrested a native leader who set up roadblocks in Borneo to stop a logging firm from encroaching on their ancestral land.

Ondie Jugah, 55, from the Iban indigenous group, was among a group of 10 people who have mounted a blockade since early this week in the interior of Sarawak.

"He was taken in by the police after three reports were made by the logging company, Melukun Sdn Bhd, who is logging in the longhouse community's native land area," said Swiss-based environment group Bruno-Manser-Fonds (BMF).

penan blockade in sarawak logging "Nine people, including two women, were at the blockade when Ondie was arrested."

Police said Ondie was detained late Friday after he refused to remove the blockade in Kapit, following complaints filed by the logging company .

"We directed him to open up the road but he refused, so we have to take him back to facilitate investigation," a senior police official from the local Kapit district, who did not want to be named, told AFP .

Police said Ondie was expected to be released later today after questioning.

'A form of harassment'

Ondie's son, Anthony, urged the police to release his father, saying they were merely protecting their home.

sarawak diverse population percentage breakdown of race 160106 "They (the logging company) want to destroy our land and did not want to compensate us," said the 29-year-old.

Nicholas Mujah, secretary general of indigenous rights group Sarawak Dayak Iban Association, condemned the arrest as a form of "harassment" of the vulnerable group and demanded the authorities respect native land rights.

The native Iban people are the largest indigenous group in Sarawak, making up almost half of the state's two million population.

Other indigenous groups include Kenyah, Kayan and about 10,000 Penan people.

penan blockade in sarawak logging The Penan, some of whom are nomadic hunter-gatherers, have complained that their way of life is under threat from extensive logging of their traditional hunting grounds, as well as the spread of palm oil and timber plantations.

"The arrest is the latest in a series of arrests and detentions occurring as a result of the decades-old conflict between indigenous peoples and the logging and oil palm companies that have encroached onto their native territories," said BMF.

"While Sarawak constitution and laws provide for the recognition of native land rights, weak government leadership and policy has led to the issuance of logging and oil palm permits in the same areas where indigenous peoples live."

- AFP