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Lax Laws in Indonesia Turn Blind Eye To Animal Trafficking
When Indonesian prosecutors went after the leader of an illegal wildlife syndicate operating near the Malacca Strait, they relied on the country’s then relatively new 2019 Quarantine Act to seek a prison sentence. After being connected to the illegal smuggling of four lion cubs, a leopard, and 58 species of Indian Star tortoises from Malaysia to Indonesia, Irawan Shia received a four-year prison sentence and fine of IDR 1 billion (USD$65,468). If the fine is not paid, the replacement is three months imprisonment. The sentence was the biggest ever handed out, but falls far short of what it could have been had Indonesia brought its laws in line with global conventions.
