Austin Jenish - Environmental activism, the law and SLAPP
About this episode
The episode discusses the challenges faced by environmental activists in Indonesia, particularly the use of SLAPPs against them.
Indonesia is home to some of the largest stretches of tropical rainforest left on Earth — and to a growing community of people willing to put themselves on the line to defend it. But across the archipelago, environmental activists are increasingly finding that the sharpest threat they face isn't out in the field. It's in the courtroom. In this episode, we're looking at how the law itself is being turned against environmental defenders in Indonesia, especially through what are known as SLAPPs — strategic lawsuits against public participation. What are these suits, and what is the intention behind them? To unpack this, I'm joined by Austin Jenish. Austin recently finished his studies, and his path into these questions didn’t begin in a lecture or a research program, but with a study abroad program that took him to Indonesia. He came to the country's legal system and its environment out of genuine curiosity, and followed that interest far enough to start writing about it. So, we connected through an article Austin wrote for Earth.org on SLAPP which can be found at https://earth.org/how-malicious-lawsuits-are-silencing-climate-activists-in-indonesia/. Austin holds degrees in both law…
More episodes of Talking Indonesia
- Liam Prince - Experiencing Indonesia
- Tito Ambyo and Jamie Edmonds - Indonesian Ghosts and Ghost Stories
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