(BASEL, SWITZERLAND) Days after the death of Malaysian Borneo’s strong-man politician Abdul Taib Mahmud (“Taib”), the Swiss environmental and human rights organization Bruno Manser Fonds will release an explosive documentary on Taib’s environmental crimes and the oppression of the indigenous peoples of Sarawak during his tenure as head of government.
“The forest is gone – where is the money?” tells a powerful story of environmental destruction, oppression of indigenous communities and its profiteers. The 44-minute documentary was edited by Swiss filmmaker Roman Stocker and produced by the Bruno Manser Fonds. It features Malaysian indigenous leaders, leading anti-corruption activists and international experts on the occasion of the Rainforest Tribunal, a staged trial held in Basel, Switzerland, in August 2023.
The documentary includes statements by Cynthia Gabriel (Lawyer and anti-corruption expert), Claude Martin (former Director General of WWF International), Robin Hanbury-Tenison (Explorer and President of Survival International), Ida Theilade (Professor, University of Copenhagen), Mutang Urud (Human Rights and Environmental Activist), Unga Paren (Penan community headman), Mutang Tuo (Penan community hedman), Komeok Joe (Managing Director Keruan), Jerald Joseph (Human Rights consultant), Willie Kajan (Land rights activist), See Chee How (Lawyer and Member of the Sarawak State Assembly), Clare Rewcastle Brown (Editor Sarawak Report), Bruce H. Searby (Attorney and Former US Federal Prosecutor), Dayang Ukau (Penan activist), Elizabeth Ballang (Penan activist), Roland Engan (Land rights lawyer), Celine Lim (Managing Director Save Rivers) and members of a high-ranking international jury.