The sentencing is a good sign towards efforts to prevent and eradicate the destruction of forest in the Tesso Nilo National ParkJakarta (ANTARA) - The Environment and Forestry Ministry praised the sentence imposed by the Pelalawan District Court against the mastermind of a tree logging crime that occurred in the Tesso Nilo National Park in Pelalawan, Riau, last year.
The court earlier sentenced the mastermind, identified with the initial S, aged 41, to 4.5 years in prison and instructed him to pay a fine of Rp1 billion or face another six months' imprisonment.
"The sentencing is a good sign towards efforts to prevent and eradicate the destruction of forest in the Tesso Nilo National Park," Head of the ministry's Sumatra Island Region Law Enforcement Office, Subhan, noted as per the statement on Thursday (April 6).
The authority has also determined that the case file of another suspect in the same crime, identified with the initial J, aged 47, is complete, thereby allowing his trial to proceed, he noted.
"It accentuates the collective commitment between the ministry's Law Enforcement Office, the National Park management, and other relevant law enforcers," the ministry's regional office head stated.
He remarked that pieces of evidence of the crime would be returned to the prosecutors for legal process related to suspect Tamrin and co.
Subhan explained that the case was unravelled following an investigation into the tree logging crime that led to damage to 60 hectares of land in the Tesso Nilo National Park in Ukui Sub-district, Pelalawan District, Riau, perpetrated by Tamrin and co.
Tamrin and co were arrested by the Tesso Nilo National Park forest security joint operations team, comprising ministry personnel, national park management, and the local police, on March 31, 2022. They are currently serving their sentence.
The court testimony revealed that suspect S had instructed Tamrin and co to log the trees in the national park.
On November 14, 2022, a joint team of the ministry's regional office personnel and local police arrested S in the province's capital Pekanbaru, who days earlier had assaulted law enforcers attempting to arrest him and tried to retake heavy equipment confiscated by law enforcers.
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Translator: Sugiharto P, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Sri Haryati
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