The magistrate's court in Mukah, Sarawak, yesterday discharged and acquitted four Ibans who were accused of wrongfully restraining employees of an oil palm company.

In a press statement, the Borneo Resources Institute Malaysia (Brimas) identified the four as tuai rumah (longhouse chief) Siew Ak Libau, Usang Ak Labit, Samuel Ak Genta and Louis Ak Libau.

The men were arrested in July 2001 for allegedly setting up a blockade on Rosebay Enterprise Sdn Bhd's road in Pelagau in order to prevent its workers from entering.

The four, said to be the leaders of residents from four Iban longhouses, claimed Native Customary Rights (NCR) over the land on which the company had established an oil palm plantation.

Defending their right

According to Brimas, the men, who were charged under Section 339 of the Penal Code, told the court that they were merely defending their NCR .

Previously, the Iban community there have lodged two police reports against the company for allegedly trespassing onto their land.

A civil suit was also filed with the Sibu High Court in 1999, naming the Land and Survey Department of Sibu Division, the Sarawak state government and Rosebay Enterprise as defendants.

The suit challenges the legality of the provisional lease that overlapped with the community's NCR.

Despite the legal action, the company still continued with its work thus resulting in the blockade being erected.