InfoSAWIT, HAMBURG – A company of Korindo Group finally revoked its long term – claim after judges showed action that would fail its claim.

The claim of PT Kenertec Power Systems was clearly aimed to stop civil organizations’ campaign to protect rain forests in Papua Province, Indonesia that could threaten the extensive operational of Korindo Group.

As in the official statement to InfoSAWIT, Thursday (23/2/2023), Korindo Group has many kinds of businesses in the world, from wood, pulp, rubber, palm oil, and renewable energy. In 2016, Mighty Earth, Rainforest Rescue (Rettet den Regenwald), and some civil organizations in Indonesia and Korea signed documents about deforestation which Korindo did in its massive palm oil businesses in Papua Province, Indonesia. The documents were sent to wind tower customers of PT Kenertec in German.

In 2017 Mighty Earth complained to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a certified forestry institution in the globe, about the cutting of 30 thousand hectare of tropical forests in Papua Province, Indonesia, by Korindo. Then FSC did investigation on the report.

In 2018, Korindo instructed one law firm in Singapore to send e-mail which consisted of subpoena to, at least, seven civil organizations that signed the 2016 documents. The e-mail said, “Korindo’s policy is to take legal action against individuals or organizations that spread untrue information or make factually erroneous public statement about Korindo – with the intent or effect of harming Korindo’s business interests. Therefore, Korindo is processing legal action against Mighty Earth.”

In 2019, PT Kenertec Power Systems proposed legal sue for having defamation both in German to Center for International Policy (CIP) which was fiscally sponsoring Mighty Earth and non-profit organization - Rettet den Regenwald (Rainforest Rescue) in German. The lawyers of Kenertec thought that the statement in their documents sent to many customers in German, such as, Siemens AG (German), Gamesa Corporation (now Siemens Gamesa), and Nordex SE (German) was a fraud or slander.

In 2019, the lawyers of Korindo threatened FSC which was investigating the violation assumption to Korindo’s policy based on the claim of Mighty Earth in 2017. The investigation of FSC revealed that Korindo Group destroyed more than 30.000 hectares of forests (or equal to 42.000 football fields) in the past five years, and violated the people’s rights and human rights which against to FSC standards. The investigation predicted that Korindo made the indigenous people loss for about US$ 300 million dollar by purchasing wood from their land in cheap.

By the late of 2021, FSC got Korindo out of its membership for not being cooperative to FSC and failed to execute the regulation and handled the damage impacts about their operational in wood and palm oil plantations.

Korindo Agreed to end the Controversy

On 21 February 2023, Kenertec and Rainforest Rescue agreed to end controversy that Korindo proposed three years ago based on what Germany Court proposed. The judge mentioned that Kenertec cannot claim CIP on what the institution stated in the documents signed by Mighty Earth.

The claim of strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) that Korindo proposed was clearly about to intimidate civil organization groups and prevent them to repeat the same statements in the documents or would be having €250.000 fine in every violation case or would be in jail.

The SLAPP claim is one sample that big company or famous individual proposes lawsuit which was designed to harass and drain substantial natural resources from monitoring, activist, journalist, labor union, media organizations that represent public interests.

Senior Director of Mighty Earth for Southeast Asia, Amanda Hurowitz told that in this case Korindo Group tried to silence Mighty Earth and civil organization coalitions and from the early phase, it had no basic.

“Finally, after three years, when German court would cancel the claim, Korindo Group revokes it. The company agreed to solve the claim without compensation or order or court against Mighty Earth, CIP, or Rainforest Rescue. The company agreed to pay most of the fee in the court,” she said.

Amanda Hurowitz also mentioned, ‘bad’ companies that destroy our earth are not let and should not spend time in the court by saying claim maneuver which aims to intimidate civil organizations that vocalize to stop deforestation from palm oil, wood, soyoil, cow meat, and other commodities. This is about to solve climate change and improve broken nature.

Meanwhile, Professor Roger Mann, German lawyer for CIP and Rainforest Rescue told that after three years of the claim, Korindo Group accepted the solution proposal which has been taken to the court. The court clarified in the first place that the claim to CIP and the revocation to two defendants had no basic.

“About the compensation in relationship with the statement about illegal fire by Korindo, the defendants proposed many facts, and delivered many proofs. The court considered to hear the witnesses in Indonesia. It did not happen because after the judges were substituted, the court sentenced the prosecutor has no rights to compensate because the business is wind turbine and it does not involve in palm oil business of Korindo,” he said. (T2)