By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, July 1: The Sarawak-based NGO Keruan and Swiss NGO Bruno Manser Fonds are calling for the immediate release of two indigenous Penan men who were arrested by Malaysian authorities on June 28, 2025.
According to both organisations, the two men from the village of Long Tepen were resting by the roadside near Batu 12 with a friend when they were approached and detained by forestry officers.
“One of the three Penan managed to escape with minor injuries and later filed a police report. The other two have since been held for at least four days under Section 103 of the Forestry Ordinance,” the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said in a statement issued today.
They emphasised that the Long Tepen Village Residents Action Committee has condemned the arrests.
“It is believed that the accusations of obstructing public servants and issuing threats were fabricated. This incident appears to be a clear case of abuse of power by the Forest Department.”
They claimed that the Penan community of Long Tepen has lodged multiple police reports—most recently in September 2024, March 2025, and June 2025—against a Malaysian logging company for alleged illegal encroachment and the dismantling of community blockades on ancestral lands.
Komeok Joe, spokesperson for Keruan, said: “The Penan from Long Tepen have consistently reported the destruction of their forests by the logging company, only to be ignored. Instead of protecting Indigenous rights, authorities are criminalising those who defend their land and culture.”
Keruan and Bruno Manser Fonds are urging the Malaysian government to ensure the immediate release of the two Penan men and to halt logging operations in Indigenous territories.
The organisations stressed that the rights of indigenous peoples to their ancestral lands must be recognised and upheld.
In a letter submitted today to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), the NGOs are seeking urgent intervention on the matter. — DayakDaily
