The Captain Of Panama-Flagged Ship was Sentenced To Fine Of IDR 2 Billion For Cases Of Disposing Of Waste Without Permit

The verdict hearing of mt Freya skipper in Batam District Court. (Naim/Antara)

JAKARTA - The panel of judges at the Batam District Court sentenced Chen Yo Qun to a fine of IDR 2 billion and a one-year sentence with a probation period of two years.

Chief Judge David P Sitorus stated that the defendant Chen Yo Qun legally and convincingly committed the crime of dumping waste without permission and did not comply with the shipping channel regulations.

"Sentenced Chen Yo Qun to a one-year criminal sentence", said the judge at a trial in Batam, as reported by Antara, Tuesday, May 25.

The judge said that the sentence did not need to be served unless there was a verdict by the judge that the defendant was proven to have committed another crime before the end of the two-year probation.

"Sentenced the defendant to a fine IDR 2 billion", the judge read out the next verdict.

However, if the fine is not paid, then it can be replaced by imprisonment for three months.

Still in court, the judge decided that various items of evidence, including MT Freya, were returned to their owners.

The judge stated that the defendant's act of dumping waste could pollute Indonesian waters.

Upon the judge's decision, the defendant Chen Yo Qun stated that he accepted. Meanwhile, the public prosecutor is still thinking about it.

Bakamla detained two Iranian and Panamanian-flagged supertankers, MT Horse and MT Freya, which entered Indonesian territorial waters, in January 2021.

In a previous trial, the skipper of MT Horse, Mehdi Monghasemjahromi, was sentenced to one year imprisonment, but it did not need to be served unless a judge later decided that the defendant was proven guilty of another criminal act before the end of the two-year trial.