(Indonesia) Man on trial in Indonesian court for illegally keeping orangutans

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AP World - General News

 

Man on trial in Indonesian court for illegally keeping

orangutans

Tue Aug 13, 1:31 AM ET

 

JAKARTA, Indonesia - The owner of two performing

orangutans is being prosecuted for the illegal

possession of endangered animals, a court official

said Tuesday, in the first case of its kind in

Indonesia's capital.

 

The illegal animal trade, worth millions of dollars,

is rampant in Indonesia where law enforcement is weak.

 

 

The defendant, Sumarto — who like many Indonesians

uses only one name — told the South Jakarta District

Court that a friend gave him the two apes, Edo and

Karmila, in 1995, according to court official Ramadan

Rizal.

 

Sumarto claimed he had obtained a license to keep them

but had neglected to renew it.

 

Under old Indonesian laws, selected people were

allowed to have permits to legally possess endangered

animals during the early 1990s. The rule has been

phased out but some people have claimed ignorance of

the new regulation.

 

Sumarto was placed under house arrest in March after

police raided the Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta where

he worked as the head of an animal show group.

 

The defendant faces a maximum of five years in jail if

found guilty.

 

Hardi Baskoro, an environmental activist, praised the

proceedings as a major step forward in the fight for

the protection of endangered animals.

 

Orangutans are faced with extinction because of the

high demand for them as pets or performing animals

both in Indonesia and overseas. Also, their natural

habitat is disappearing due to rapacious logging,

urban expansion and deliberately lit bush fires.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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