Four Men Get Prison Sentence And Fine For Killing Orangutans

Ahmad Fuad Yahya JAKARTA, May 22 (Bernama) -- A district court in East Kalimantan on Monday sentenced four men to between eight and 10 months in prison and a fine, for killing two orangutans at separate oil palm plantations in East Kalimantan last year. Tajar and Tulil from Muara Lancong subdistrict were each given a 10-month jail sentence and a fine of Rp50 million after they admitted to killing an adult orangutan in May last year, but they had claimed that the animal had tried to attack them. The same Sanggata court, in East Kutai district also sentenced Leswin and Tadeus from Telen subdistrict to eight months in jail and a fine of Rp25 million each for killing an adult orangutan at another plantation, English daily the Jakarta Globe reported Tuesday. According to the daily, Leswin and Tadeus had captured a female orangutan and her offspring, which they claimed were feasting on the oil palm seeds in their plantation. The court ruled that the two defendants deserved a more lenient sentence because they had contacted a local environmental group, the Centre for Orangutan Protection about the animals, however when members of the group arrived, the adult orangutan was already dead while her offspring was found bound and locked up in a small box. -- BERNAMA