Indonesia: Fishermen jailed for bomb fishing

The Jakarta Post 23 Dec 15;

The Liwa District Court in West Lampung regency, Lampung, has sentenced 10 fishermen to five years in prison each for using bombs while fishing in the Tambling Wildlife Nature Conservation (TWNC) reserve.

“The sentence is in line with the sentence demanded by the prosecutors. We are satisfied with the heavy punishment of the 10 defendants, destroyers of the maritime environment of Tambling Wildlife Nature Conservation,” Ronni Sihombing, the president commissioner of PT Adhiniaga Kreasinusa, which manages TWNC, said as quoted by Antara on Tuesday.

TWNC is affiliated with Jakarta-based Artha Graha Group, which is owned by businessman and philanthropist Tomy Winata. In its ruling on Monday, the court also fined the defendants Rp 500 million (US$36,700) each, or an additional of three months in jail if they fail to pay. Ronni said the company’s security officers arrested the defendants on Oct. 27 this year while patroling in the area.

“We warned them [the defendants] at that time, they threw bombs and dumped evidence. One boat [carrying the men] was stopped while two other boats managed to escape,” he said.