Three Temiar villagers remanded for 2 days over blockade
The Gerik Magistrates' Court has issued a two-day remand order for the three Temiar villagers arrested in Kampung Sungai Papan yesterday.
Police had detained Johari Aleuj, Pam Yeek and Shukri Man after they prevented a blockade constructed by villagers from being brought down by the police, loggers and Forestry Department personnel...
The Gerik Magistrates' Court has issued a two-day remand order for the three Temiar villagers arrested in Kampung Sungai Papan yesterday.
Police had detained Johari Aleuj, Pam Yeek and Shukri Man after they prevented a blockade from being taken down by the police, loggers and Forestry Department personnel.
Representing the trio this morning was lawyer G Thiyagu, who told Malaysiakini that investigating officer (IO) M Murugaraju had initially made an application for a four-day remand because the police had yet to take statements from the trio.
“After listening to arguments from the defence, magistrate Norhidayati Mohammad Nasroh ordered the three Orang Asli to be remanded for two days (and) they will be released tomorrow,” he said when contacted.
Investigations are being conducted under Section 341 of the Penal Code which states that those convicted for wrongfully restraining others from proceeding in any direction are liable for maximum one month jail, or an RM1,000 fine, or both.
In light of the minor offence involved, Thiyagu characterised the remand order as “excessive” and questioned why the police had not been more efficient.
“For me, under Section 341 to give even two days remand, it is excessive.
“They had ample time from 11am (yesterday after the arrests), just record the statements. I don’t think so many elements need to be proven.
“This is not a murder, this is not a drug matter. This is a simple obstruction matter, there is no need to even remand them,” he told the media after the decision.
As for the news that two of the three arrested had been found without their IC on them, the lawyer said police did not mention this matter in today’s proceedings.
Customary land rights
Elaborating further, Thiyagu contended that the Orang Asli believed they had the right to defend their customary land.
“The IO said the logging company wanted to cross to the other side but were restricted from going into (the forest) where they claimed they have the license to do logging.
“These (Orang Asli) people obstructed them. But why did they obstruct them? The reason is they were defending their customary land rights which has been a long term battle,” he said.
“Don't set this as a precedent (of remanding them) as many Orang Asli people are fighting for their customary land from state authorities,” the lawyer added.
In a related development, the Perak Forestry Department issued a statement yesterday stating that the blockade in question was located 25km from Kampung Sungai Papan and was in fact situated on Felda land.
It also verified that the logging company involved had been approved to clear 80 hectares of the Air Chepam Forest Reserve, and lodged several police reports against the villagers.
“Information from the police is that the three Temiar Orang Asli men were arrested on suspicion of being the masterminds of the blockade. Checks show that they were not from Kampung Sungai Papan but in fact from Kampung Cunex,” the department said.
However, this was disputed by Orang Asli NGO Centre for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC).
“They are wrong! [...] Kampung Sungai Papan is 2.2km away. Not 25km,” it said on its Facebook page.
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