The struggle for ancestral land rights in Sikka Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), has taken a heavy legal toll on the Soge Natarmage and Goban Runut indigenous communities. What began as a defense of traditional territory has escalated into the criminalization of community leaders, activists, and their legal counsel.
On January 21, 2026, the NTT Regional Police officially named four individuals as suspects in a trespassing case. The group includes Leonardus Leo (Head of the Soge Natarmage Tribe), Ignasius Nasi (Head of the Goban Runut Tribe), Antonius Toni (an activist with the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago – AMAN NTT), and Antonius Yohanis Bala (the community’s legal counsel).
The Conflict: Ancestral Land vs. Corporate Claims
The case centers on a long-standing agrarian dispute involving PT Krisrama, a business entity owned by the Diocese of Maumere. The company filed a police report accusing the four individuals of “entering a private premises without permission” under Article 167 of the Indonesian Criminal Code.
Police spokesperson Kombes Pol. Henry Novika Chandra maintained that the investigation followed standard legal procedures based on the report filed by PT Krisrama. However, human rights defenders and agrarian experts argue that the charges are a textbook example of “strategic litigation against public participation” (SLAPP) used to silence indigenous resistance.
Legal Irregularities and Expired Claims
The Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA) has raised several red flags regarding the case:
- Expired Land Rights: According to KPA Secretary General Dewi Kartika, PT Krisrama’s Right to Cultivate (Hak Guna Usaha or HGU) expired in 2013. Under Indonesian Agrarian Law (UUPA 1960), once a lease expires, the company no longer holds legal authority over the land.
- Statute of Limitations: The specific incident cited by the company reportedly occurred in 2014. Under Indonesian law, the statute of limitations for such a misdemeanor should have expired in 2021, yet the police proceeded with the charges in 2026.
- Protection of Legal Counsel: The naming of Yohanis Bala as a suspect has sparked outrage among legal circles. Under the Indonesian Advocates Law, a lawyer cannot be prosecuted—either civilly or criminally—while performing their professional duties in good faith for their clients.
“The criminalization of Yohanis Bala is further proof that agrarian reform remains stalled under the current administration,” said Dewi Kartika.
A Growing Crisis
The situation in NTT is a microcosm of a much larger national crisis. KPA data reveals that during the first year of President Prabowo Subianto’s administration, Indonesia saw 341 agrarian conflicts across 33 provinces, affecting over 123,000 families and covering nearly 915,000 hectares. This represents a 15% increase in land-related conflicts compared to the previous year.
Yuvensius Stefanus Nonga, Director of WALHI NTT (Friends of the Earth Indonesia), criticized the state’s reliance on criminal law to settle administrative failures.
“By prosecuting those who defend indigenous rights, the state is shifting the burden of its own governance failures onto the people,” Nonga stated. “This is not just a land dispute; it is an attack on Human Rights Defenders.”
Indigenous land rights in Indonesia remain precarious as the long-awaited Indigenous Peoples Bill (RUU Masyarakat Adat) has languished in Parliament for over 16 years. Without this legislative framework, communities like the Soge Natarmage and Goban Runut remain vulnerable to land grabbing and criminalization by entities using formal—and often expired—legal titles to claim ancestral domains.
As the case moves toward trial, local activists are calling on the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs to intervene and evaluate the administrative validity of corporate land claims in the region.
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