The district court of Langsa, Aceh, sentenced Ramadhani to two years in jail after he was proven guilty of trading Sumatran orangutans.
Chief Judge Ismail Hidayat, who read out the verdict, also ordered that the defendant pay a fine of Rp50 million or serve three more months in jail.
Ramadhani was caught by the Natural Resource Conservation Agencys (BKSDAs) officers, who are working with personnel from the sub-directorate of specific crimes, in the Aceh regional police command in Pondok Kemuninv in the sub-district of Langsa Lama, Langsa, on August 1.
During the operation, the police confiscated three orangutans, "elang bondol" (brahminy kite) and rare birds.
The Head of the Aceh BKSDA Genman Hasibuan said he hoped the sentence would have a deterrent effect on the defendant and other environmental criminals.
"Orangutan and other animal species are protected by Law Number 5 of 1990 on conservation. Anyone found trading in them could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in jail and fined up to Rp100 million," he said.
The Director of the Orangutan Center, Panut Hadisiswoyo, said this was the first sentence delivered by the court in Aceh to an orangutan trader and so "we hail the law enforcement action."
He said, however that the sentence was still too light, compared with the defendants action of selling three orangutan babies and several other protected animals.
This showed that trading protected animals was still not considered a serious crime, he said, adding that protected animals are invaluable state assets.(*)
