SIBU: Two Indonesian men found in possession of protected wildlife were each sentenced to six months in jail and fined RM2,000.
A spokesperson from the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) said the Session’s Court on Friday (Aug 13) meted out the sentence after the duo pleaded guilty.
The accused, Hairul Aziz and Asnan, were recently arrested by SFC enforcement officers in an operation codenamed ‘Ops Burung’.
“During the operation, our enforcement team seized four protected (birds) Murai Batu, one protected Burung Tiong, three wild (birds) Murai Kampung, 19 wild Burung Merbuk and one wild Burung Terkukur from Hairul Aziz; and four protected Murai Batu and one wild Murai Kampung from Asnan.
“Both failed to produce any valid permit to the enforcement team.”
They were charged under Section 29(2) of the Wild Life Protection Ordinance, 1998 for keeping protected birds and Section 37(1) and Section 37(2)(c) of the same Ordinance for keeping wild birds.
SFC urged the public who have information on illegal wildlife activities to report them via the SFC hotlines – Kuching (019-8859996), Sibu (019-8883561), Bintulu (019-8332737), Miri (019-8290994).
