Indonesian court hears ‘negligence’ complaint against state over fires, haze
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Rina Lestari Br Sembiring, the chief judge, during the first hearing of a class action lawsuit over the government’s handling of wildfires on Oct 7.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- - Indonesia’s government faces a court case in Pontianak over “gross negligence” after wildfire haze blanketed Borneo and caused health and school closures.
- - Four plaintiffs, including Indigenous NGO AMAN, say officials failed to tackle recurring fires worsened by drought-linked El Nino and forest destruction.
- - They want a national disaster declaration for wider recovery, rehabilitation and healthcare support, while the first hearing saw none of the 10 defendants present.
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Pontianak, Indonesia – Indonesia’s government was accused of “gross negligence” in a court case that opened on Oct 7 against the president and other officials over a toxic haze emitted by wildfires that blanketed parts of Borneo island.
Four plaintiffs, including a local chapter of Indigenous NGO AMAN, filed the class action lawsuit in September at a court in Pontianak in West Kalimantan province.
The region has been hit hard by fires and smoke that have shuttered schools and forced hundreds to seek medical help for respiratory ailments.
President Prabowo Subianto and the governor of West Kalimantan are among 10 defendants.
The plaintiffs’ lawyer Glorio Sanen said after the first hearing that the case was “a step to address the problem” of annual wildfires blamed largely on forest destruction and fuelled in 2026 by an exceptionally intense episode of the drought-causing El Nino weather phenomenon.
Indonesia has for weeks battled to control fires that have burnt through vast swathes of Sumatra, Papua and Borneo, spewing a choking smog as far as Malaysia and Singapore.
None of the defendants were present, according to an AFP reporter in the courtroom on Oct 7.
“We feel sad and regretful about their absence... But on the other hand, we also understand that perhaps this haze condition caused them to be unable to land in Pontianak,” Glorio told reporters.
Hundreds of flights have been disrupted by the putrid smoke.
The plaintiffs have accused the government of “gross negligence” for failing to address what has been a recurring problem, according to a court filing seen by AFP.
They want the government to declare a national disaster allowing for comprehensive recovery and rehabilitation measures that would include covering the healthcare costs of affected residents.
A similar lawsuit filed in 2025 at a court in South Sumatra was dismissed. AFP