The seven-year sentence demanded for Heri Budiawan alias Budi Pego, an environmental activist in Banyuwangi, is truly unjust. This resident of Sumber Agung village in the Banyuwangi Regency of East Java was only exercising his right to protest and reject the development of a gold mine owned by Damai Suksesindo on Tumpang Pitu Mount in April 2017, when he was arrested on charges of spreading communism.

The panel of judges at the Banyuwangi Distri