Badung DPRD Asks Nyoman Sukena Defendant In Landak Pet Case Threatened With 5 Years In Prison Release

BADUNG - Member of the Badung Regency DPRD, Bali, Wayan Puspa Negara, requested that the defendant I Nyoman Sukena who was detained for keeping four rare hedgehogs be immediately released.

Puspa Negara, who is also the head of the Bali Marginal Tourism Actors Alliance, said that the defendant Nyoman Sukena must be released without voting.

"Because he has actually saved and planted hedgehogs well. Instead, he has actually carried out protection, rescue and maintenance as mandated by the conservation law so as not to become extinct, because the purpose of protection is to save the species," said the Gerindra politician, Monday, September 9.

He considered that the defendant I Nyoman Sukenajustru sincerely maintained hedgehogs as a form of participatory development guaranteed by law.

"Therefore, it is better for the public prosecutor (JPU) to cancel all the arguments of his demands and the judge to decide freely with his gratitude, appreciation and rehabilitation of the good name concerned. The law must be upright to protect, not try or hurt," he said.

Previously, I Nyoman Sukena from Badung Regency, Bali, was threatened with five years in prison for keeping four rare hedgehogs at his home.

Sukena was arrested by the police in early March 2024 on public reports, because she was caught keeping the four hedgehogs in her house.

The Denpasar District Court Public Relations Officer (PN), Gede Putra Astawa, confirmed that the defendant Nyoman Sukena was threatened with 5 years in prison.

Sukena was charged with violating Article 21 paragraph 2 a in conjunction with Article 40 paragraph 2 of the Republic of Indonesia Law Number 5 of 1990 concerning Conservation of Biological Natural Resources and Their Ecosystems (KSDA-HE).

"That defendant was charged by the public prosecutor and the criminal threat was 5 years. So the indictment carries a penalty of 5 years," said Astawa.

Meanwhile, the four hedgehogs that Sukena maintains are Javanese hedgehog or Javanica Hysterix. The soil is a protected wild animal.

Regarding the legal process, the defendant Sukena is currently being held and at the Kerobokan Correctional Institution (Lapas), Bali.

"The defendant is now detained or entrusted to the Kerobokan Prison. At the time at the investigators, he was not detained at the police when the case was transferred to the prosecutor's office for detention since August 12, 2024," he added.