Two Defendants Of Elephant Killing In East Aceh Sentenced To 42 Months In Prison

BANDA ACEH - The panel of judges at the Idi District Court, East Aceh Regency sentenced two defendants to the killing of a Sumatran elephant found dead without a head, each with a sentence of 42 months or 3.5 years in prison.

The verdict was read out by a panel of judges chaired by Apriyanti, accompanied by two member judges, namely Ike Ari Kesuma and Zaki Anwar, during a trial at the Idi District Court, East Aceh, Wednesday, December 15.

The trial was attended by the Public Prosecutor (JPU) of the East Aceh District Court, namely Harry Arfhan and M Iqbal.

The defendants attended the trial virtually from the Class IIB Idi Prison, East Aceh.

The two defendants are Jainal alias Zainon alias Dekgam bin Yunus and Edy Murdani bin Mahmud.

In addition to imprisonment, the two defendants were also sentenced to pay a fine of Rp. 50 million subsidiary each or a substitute sentence of three months in prison.

In the same case, the panel of judges also sentenced the other three defendants to three years in prison each.

The three defendants are Rinaldi Antonius bin A Karim Burhan, Soni bin Sanusi, and Jeffri Zulkarnaen bin Fauzi Umar Badib. The three were also sentenced to pay a fine of Rp. 100 million each, subsidiary to six months in prison.

In its decision, the panel of judges stated that the defendants were conclusively proven guilty of violating Article 21 paragraph (2) letter a of Law Number 5 of 1990 concerning Conservation of Biological Natural Resources and Their Ecosystems.

On this decision, the Public Prosecutor expressed his thoughts, because the verdict of the panel of judges was not in accordance with the demands read out at the trial, Wednesday, November 24.

At the previous trial, the public prosecutor charged the defendants with four years and six months each.

Previously, the carcass of an individual male Sumatran elephant was found without a head in the PT Bumi Flora area, in Jambo Reuhat Village, Banda Alam, East Aceh, Sunday, July 11.

From the results of the investigation, the East Aceh Police arrested five perpetrators. The involvement of the perpetrators included being the executor or the one who killed and cut off the elephant's head as well as the buyer of the ivory of the protected animal.