The Panel of Judges at the Tanjung Karang District Court sentenced M Yusuf (38), the defendant in a case involving the smuggling of hundreds of wild birds from Sumatra, to five years in prison.

The verdict was read out during a hearing at the Tanjung Karang District Court in Bandar Lampung City.

In the verdict, the judges stated that Yusuf was proven guilty of smuggling 336 wild birds, 132 of which were protected species.

“The defendant M Yusuf Bin Mursito is sentenced to five years in prison, minus time served, and a fine of Rp200 million or four months imprisonment,” read the verdict.

The panel of judges stated that Yusuf violated Article 21 paragraph (2) letter a in conjunction with Article 40A paragraph (1) letter d of Law No. 32 of 2024 concerning the Conservation of Living Natural Resources and Their Ecosystems, as well as Article 35 paragraph (1) letter a in conjunction with Article 88 letter a of Law No. 21 of 2019 concerning Animal and Plant Quarantine.

The Head of Lampung Quarantine, Donni Muksydayan, appreciated the verdict. “We appreciate the criminal verdict by the court in this bird smuggling case,” he said.

He said that this sentence was one of the highest for similar cases and was expected to have a deterrent effect.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of Flight: Protecting Indonesia’s Birds, Marison Guciano, considered this verdict to be the highest in a case of smuggling wild Sumatran birds to Java.

He hopes that this severe punishment will curb the high rate of illegal trade.

“The illegal trade of wild Sumatran birds to Java via Lampung is massive. With this severe punishment, I hope the perpetrators will be deterred,” said Marison.

According to him, the population of wild birds from Sumatra has declined drastically in the last two decades due to hunting and illegal trade.

Flight records show that in the last seven years, at least 200,000 wild birds from Sumatra have been confiscated by authorities in Lampung while being smuggled to Java.