The Maumere District Court in Sikka Regency of predominantly Catholic Flores Island jailed the accused for ten months after they were found guilty of destroying the signboard of PT Krisrama, a company owned by Maumere Diocese, on March 17.
The convicts including two women hail from the Soge Natarmage and Goban Runut-Tana Ai tribe who have been in a long-running land dispute with the company.
The sentence was higher than the seven months imprisonment sought by the complainant.
The defendants have been detained since last October after being arrested on the charge of damaging a signboard of the company on July 29, 2024.
The action was recorded by Catholic priest Robertus Yan Faroka, the company's managing director, and was presented to the police.
"I accept this decision as a consequence of the struggle," said Yosep Joni, one of the convicts, following the sentencing.
The verdict has caused “deep concern for us,” said Syamsul Alam Agus, chairman of the Association of Indigenous Lawyers of the Archipelago, the lawyer representing the defendants.
"This decision not only harms the defendants but also violates the principles of justice and protection of human rights, especially the rights of indigenous peoples that have been recognized constitutionally, nationally, and internationally," he said.
This verdict, he said, also ignores the legal facts that show that the indigenous people in this case were only trying to defend their ancestral land from seizure and exploitation by the company.
He said they would appeal to the Supreme Court to review the decision to ensure justice.
Lawyer and activist John Bala claimed the action of the indigenous people came after the company destroyed their crops on the same day.
The case should be viewed objectively as the actions were a response to protect their rights and property, Bala said.
He claimed that before the incident last July, the company destroyed the crops of local residents on Dec. 18, 2023.
He added that though the crop destruction was reported to the police, it was not accepted as “elements of a crime.”
The conflict centers on 868,730 hectares of land seized during Dutch rule in Indonesia.
After independence, the land was handed over to the Archdiocese of Ende through a limited liability company, PT. Perkebunan Kelapa Diag.
The Maumere Diocese inherited the property after it was established in 2005.
The diocesan company's land permit expired in 2013, and indigenous people living on and cultivating the land attempted to claim it.
In 2023, the company obtained a permit extension.
As the criminal case involving eight people continued, the company evicted dozens of people from 120 houses and destroyed their crops on the disputed land, triggering widespread condemnation.
UCA News verified the company planned to carry out another round of eviction by mobilizing people from parishes in the diocese this month.
In response, the indigenous leaders sought police protection for their houses and crops.
"We stand by our position, we will not leave our land," said Ignasius Nasi from the Soge Natarmage tribe.
PT Krisrama did not respond to requests for comment.
Catholic priest Epy Rimo, the company's general director, told local media the company acted after indigenous people were given “one and a half years” to leave the land.
He refused to term the action as “eviction” but rather “a cleansing of occupants still on site.”