Jakarta Globe 21 Jul 11;
A legislator urged the government on Wednesday to expel Greenpeace from Indonesia if the non-governmental organization's activities in the country breached the law.
"The government has the authority and right to expel Greenpeace. It should just expel them if it has clear data," Effendy Choirie of the House of Representatives (DPR)'s Commission I on foreign affairs, said at a discussion on foreign non-governmental organizations here on Wednesday.
He said that if the government really had complete data on the dishonest activities and violations of the law committed by Greenpeace, then the only thing that the government could do was to expel them.
Effendy said his commission in the House would summon the NGO if there were indications on its violations against the law.
He said that Greenpeace up to now had not yet registered as a mass organization as required by Law No. 8/ 1995. The regional government of Jakarta, in this case the Kesbangpol (political affairs) unit has never received registration application of the Netherlands-based Greenpeace.
In the meantime, intelligence analyst Wawan Purwanto said that the NGO in the environment sector in its activities always put pressures but applied double standards. It has the economic agenda.
"The nature of its demonstrations is exerting pressures and if it continues to carry out such activities it would pose serious danger," he said.
He said that Greenpeace had never put the same pressures on PT Freeport and PT Newmont. "This is clearly seen if Greenpeace has double standard campaigns," he said.
Antara
Indonesian lawmaker attacks Greenpeace
AFP Yahoo News 27 Jul 11;
An Indonesian lawmaker said Tuesday Greenpeace should be expelled from the country if an investigation finds the environmental group is trying to "ruin our sovereignty".
"We have found indications that Greenpeace has its own political and economic agenda in Indonesia," said Effendy Choirie, who sits on a parliamentary commission overseeing security and foreign affairs.
"If there is clear data that they are trying to ruin our sovereignty, then the government has to expel them or give sanctions," added the lawmaker from the Muslim-based National Awakening Party.
The party is a member of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's ruling coalition. There was no formal response from the government to the allegations.
Choirie refused to elaborate on Greenpeace's alleged wrongdoings, except to say that the international non-governmental agency was biased against certain unnamed companies.
"We have a plan to invite Greenpeace for a hearing. We'll urge the government to find the data about their wrongdoings," he said.
Greenpeace has aggressively campaigned against powerful palm oil and paper companies that are widely blamed for rampant destruction of Indonesian forests and threatening critically endangered species like orangutans and tigers.
The organisation released a video this week showing a rare Sumatran tiger dying in a trap, in what it said was a forest concession owned by Asia Pulp and Paper, a Singapore-based paper and packaging giant.
Greenpeace country representative Nur Hidayati rejected Choirie's allegations.
"There is a fact that seems to have been forgotten, which is that Greenpeace exists not only in Indonesia. We are present in more than 40 countries, most of them are in developed countries," she said in a statement.
"Greenpeace is not willing and will never want to accept funding from governments, governmental bodies or any companies."
Indonesia is considered the world's third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, mainly through deforestation for the timber industry and to make way for plantations.
