Four Face Five-Year Jail Term for Killing Animals

The first trial of four men allegedly killing orang utans and other endangered species at an oil palm plantation in East Kalimantan began on Tuesday at the Kutai Kartanegara Court.

The four men faced more than five years in jail if proven guilty of killing the endangered species.

The prosecutor said Phuah Chuan Hun, an estate manager, and Widiantoro, assistant of plantation head at a plantation firm, paid two men Imam Mutarom and Mujiyanto to kill the orang utans.  The two men were paid Rp 1 million (US$111) for each orang utan, and Rp 200,000 for a monkey.

They, the prosecutor said, used airsoft gun to shoot the orang utans out of trees before their hunting dogs chased them.  The orang utans would then be hit by wooden sticks or rocks to death before taking pictures for evidence.

The four men were arrested in November of last year after photos of the slaughtered primates were circulated in the local media

De Edge Farms