The Attorney General's Office Changes the Charges of Bird Thieves in Baluran from 2 Years to 6 Months

JAKARTA - The public prosecutor (JPU) at the Situbondo Regency District Attorney's Office, East Java, has improved the 2-year prison sentence to 6 months for the defendant for allegedly stealing five Cendet Birds in the Baluran National Park conservation area.

The revision of the 2-year demand to 6 months for the defendant Masir (71) a resident of Sumberanyar Village, Banyuputih District, was conveyed by the JPU at the trial with the agenda of replicating the pleidoi of the defendant's lawyer in the main courtroom of the Situbondo District Court, on Thursday.

"Based on the futuristic principle, and in adjusting the criminal law with regard to the sense of justice and on the instructions of the leadership, we then improved the original 2-year demand to 6 months," said the Public Prosecutor of the Situbondo District Attorney's Office, Huda Hazamal, after the trial was reported by ANTARA, Thursday, December 18.

He explained that the improvement of the charges for the case of alleged theft of five cendet birds in Baluran National Park, which has become a public spotlight, refers to Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the New Criminal Code which has been enacted and implemented next year.

In the new national criminal code law, said Huda Hazamal, there is the elimination of the threat of a minimum prison sentence. The Law on the Conservation of Natural Living Resources and their Ecosystems has a minimum threat of 2 years.

"We as the implementer of the law are obliged to implement it. So, the law has been passed, but it will be implemented on January 2, 2026. The High Prosecutor's Office has also released the indictment (this case) taken over by the Attorney General's Office," he said.

Meanwhile, the defendant's lawyer, Masir, Hanif, expressed his appreciation to the public prosecutor by changing or improving the original demand of 2 years to 6 months.

"The defendant Masir has been detained (police, prosecutor's office and court) since July 24, 2025 or almost five months," he said.

One of the legal observers, A Zainuri Ghazali, assessed that the public prosecutor was inconsistent with changing or improving the charges that had been read at the previous hearing.

"In fact, the decision in this case is already with the judge, and we are very confident that the panel of judges will use human instincts to consider everything," he said.

Zainuri also argued that the JPU should not have changed the 2-year demand that had been read earlier, because it would seem to have intervened in law enforcement in the "Santri City".

"And this is a bad precedent that reduces and even eliminates the authority of law enforcement, especially the prosecutor's office, which will not gain the trust of the public," he said.

"For the case of stealing cendet birds in this conservation area, I agree that the defendant gets leniency, considering that one of them is an elderly (elderly) and poor people," said Zainuri.

The defendant Masir committed a similar and repeated mistake, and even restorative justice efforts by the Baluran National Park have been carried out 5 times with the same case.