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Article

19 Mar 2018

Author:
The Jakarta Post

Indonesia: Activists protest against factory in Java due to pollution; seven protesters have been arrested for vandalism & defamation

A crowd of activists protested in front of the Energy Building...to demand that garment company PT Huddleston Indonesia, which occupies the 20th floor of the building, shut down operations of PT Rayon Utama Makmur (RUM) in Sukoharjo, Central Java.

The activists said residents of Sukoharjo regency endured a foul smell for months because of pollution coming from the RUM factory....

PT Huddleston holds 56 percent of shares of publicly listed PT Sri Rejeki Isman (Sritex), one of the biggest textile garment producers in Southeast Asia. It supplies garments to well known brands such as Zara, H&M and Uniqlo as well as the uniforms for the Indonesian Military, NATO and armed forces of other countries.

Protests escalated in February, when residents vandalized an RUM security post. The police later arrested seven people—activists and residents—some for vandalism and some for defamation.

In response, 100 lawyers have prepared a lawsuit against RUM.