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Central Java Family Face 7 Years Jail for Taking Tree Fibers
Candra Malik | November 26, 2009

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Batang, Central Java. After the uproar over the case of Minah, a grandmother who received a suspended sentence for stealing three cocoa pods, the sense of justice of millions of people living in poverty may be equally offended by a similar case.

Batang resident Manisih, 39, said she and three of her family had been arrested on Nov. 2 for collecting the remnants of a kapok harvest in a field owned by PT Segayung. She was speaking on Wednesday from the detention center in Rowobelang where they were being held.

Although the company had not banned gleaning after the harvest, Comr. Susongko, deputy chief of the Batang Police, said the four had been charged with aggravated theft, which carries a maximum sentence of seven year in prison.

“Although they said they only picked up the remnants of the kapok harvest off the ground, we confiscated two poles over three meters in length, plastic rope and a sickle. The four were caught red-handed by police,” he said.

The suspects are Manisih’s children, Rusnanto, 12, and Juwono, 16, and her nephew, Sri Suratmi, 25.

Manisih denied they had stolen kapok. “We only collected the leftover kapok off the ground, which we will sell to live,” she told reporters at the detention center.

Leli Meilinda, a prosecutor for the Batang Prosecutor’s Office, said the suspects’ case dossiers were complete and that Manisih and her family would be brought to court within a week.

Kapok is a tree with large seed pods, the fibers of which are used for upholstery and insulation.