MEDAN: The Medan District Court handed down on Wednesday afternoon a prison term of one year to each of three men who were convicted of trading the body parts of a protected animal; in their case, pangolin scales.
The sentence was lighter than demanded by the prosecutor, who recommended a year and a half in prison and a fine of Rp 50 million (US$2,841) each, or an additional 50 days behind bars if they could not pay the fine.
Presiding judge Lenny Megawaty Napitupulu, however, waived the fine in her sentencing.
“On examination, the defendants Ebed Baidillah, Awaluddin and Muhammad Nassir are sentenced to a prison term of one year each,” Lenny said on Sept. 2 while reading out the sentence.
The judge said the three defendants were proven to have carried out a crime together in transporting and trading the parts of protected animals.
Their actions violated Article 40A (1f) of Law No. 32/2024 on natural resources and ecosystem conservation along with Article 20C of the 2023 Criminal Code.
She also noted that the judicial panel did not find any mitigating factors or circumstances to absolve the defendants of their criminal responsibilities.
All defendants have accepted their sentences, as has prosecutor Kharya Saputra.
In his indictment, Kharya said the pangolin scales trade began on Jan. 12, when Ebed received a WhatsApp message from Ranjes, who is still on the run, offering to buy pangolin scales at Rp 2.8 million (US$160) per kilogram.
Ebed then contacted Awaludin to look for pangolin scales.
Two days later, Awaluddin and Nasir visited Ebed’s house, and the three hatched a plan to try and obtain pangolin scales from another, unidentified individual in Sei Rampah, Serdang Bedagai regency, North Sumatra.
This would require a down payment of Rp 10 million, so Nasir took out a loan, after which the three travelled by car to Sei Rampah and received a sack of pangolin scales from the unidentified trader.
On their way back to Medan, Ebed contacted Ranjes and said the three had 15kg of pangolin scales.
Ranjes then set up a meeting with the group at the Manhattan Times Square shopping mall, where they met at around 11.30pm.
He then told the three to go to a warehouse in the North Sumatran capital’s Helvetia district.
Upon arriving at the warehouse at approximately 11.45pm, the three were detained by intelligence personnel from Military Command (Kodam) I/Bukit Barisan.
Ebed, Awaluddin and Nasir were questioned at the military command before they and the pangolin scales were handed over to the Medan Police.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species recognises eight pangolin species, of which three are classified as critically endangered, including the Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica).
All pangolins are also listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which prohibits their international trade.
Pangolin scales are highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine for their supposed health benefits, while the animals’ meat is valued in China and Vietnam.
Pangolins are also prized in African countries for food and medicine. - Jakarta Post/ANN
