Remember the Sumatran elephant poaching syndicate that was convicted in Bengkais District Court last July? Four of the seven perpetrators are back on trial at the Pelalawan District Court for the killing of three elephants in the Tesso Nilo forest area. On Thursday (10/12), the panel of judges chaired by Fadly postponed the trial because the witness Fadly was not present. The trial has been postponed at least three times by the panel of judges because the witness could never be presented despite repeated summonses.

At the previous hearing (26/11), the four defendants Ari, Ishak, Herdani Serdavio and Anwar told the panel of judges that Fadly was the one who provided funds for them to hunt elephants. The hunt for three elephants in the Tesso Nilo forest block in Langgam Subdistrict, Pelalawan Regency, took place on February 5, 2015. The four defendants were arrested by police personnel from the Directorate of Special Investigation and Crimes - Riau Police on February 10, 2015 in Pekanbaru.

The trial was presided over by Chief Judge Bangun Sagita Rambey, SH.MH, with member judges Wanda Andriyeni SH, MH and Nurrahmi, SH. While the public prosecutor Ermindawati, SH. The hearing agenda listened to expert witness testimony from the Riau Natural Resources Conservation Center (BBKSDA), namely Drh. Rini Deswita and Zawil Hijri S Hut, Msi. Other witnesses were Putraper, a civil servant investigator from BBKSDA Riau and Raja from Riau Police.

In her testimony Drh. Rini Deswita confirmed that the elephant carcass she autopsied in Segat Village, Langgam Subdistrict, Pelalawan was the same elephant carcass as the three pairs of tusks confiscated by Riau Police. Meanwhile, Zawil Hijri said that based on Government Regulation No. 7/1999 and Law No. 5/1990 on the Conservation of Natural Resources and Ecosystems, hunting or killing elephants for their tusks is not allowed.

This gang of elephant killers hunted elephants in the PT Arara Abadi Industrial Plantation Forest (HTI) area in Mandau sub-district, Bengkalis and took one pair of ivory. The seven perpetrators were arrested by Riau Police and found one pair of ivory in the vehicle they used to bring their hunted products to Pekanbaru. From the Riau Police investigation, the syndicate admitted to killing three elephants in the Tesso Nilo forest in Pelalawan Regency. Three pairs of ivory from their hunt in Tesso Nilo were confiscated as evidence.

The seven suspects began their trial at the Bengkalis District Court in May 2016. In the trial process, Ari and his friends were proven to have killed the elephant where Ari was the shooter while his three colleagues, Ishak, Herdani and Anwar, assisted in the hunt. Fadly was proven to be the owner of the firearm and the financial backer for the hunt. Meanwhile, Rusli and Mursyid were proven to have participated in this hunt as road guides.

The seven defendants were then sentenced in mid-July by a panel of judges to an average sentence of 1 year in prison, except for Ari, the elephant shooter, who was sentenced to 1 year and 1 month in prison.
This verdict by many parties is very unfortunate because of the light sentence given. Law No. 5 of 1990 states that killing, trading, transporting protected animals or their body parts carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison. This case received serious attention by environmental activists in Riau such as Jikalahari, Hipam, Mapala and BEM organizations in Riau and including RCT (Riau Corruption Trial) media who routinely monitored the trial. However, they are concerned about the sentence given because it is considered too low.

This is the first trial of elephant poaching in Riau in the last 10 years. More than 100 elephants have died in that time either due to conflict, poaching or illness but none have gone to trial.

The trial of the elephant ivory poaching case that continues at the District Court. Pelalawan is certainly a hope that it can run better so that and can have an impact to reduce the occurrence of ivory poaching in Riau in particular and other areas. Unfortunately, it seems that this hope may not be realized because the trial is only continuing for four defendants while Fadly, who is recognized by the defendants as the financier and owner of firearms in their poaching activities, is only acting as a witness in this case. And after several summonses, Fadly has yet to respond to the prosecution's request, including at the hearing that took place last Thursday (10/12). Hopefully there will be a clearer effort from law enforcers to ensnare the brains of this unlawful activity.

Meanwhile, as a form of support to the panel of judges in this ivory poaching case, Resky Ardiansyah, representing the student component, submitted written support to the chief judge on Thursday. Resky Ardiansyah, who is also the head of Mapala at Riau Islamic University, representing Mapala, BEM and community organizations in Riau, expressed his hope that the panel of judges can enforce the law as it should be. He also said not to experience the same disappointment as in the Bengkalis District Court before. Similar support was also conveyed to the panel of judges in the elephant ivory poaching case at the Bengkalis District Court last July.