Associated Press
Indonesian court sends to jail elephant poacher and traders
An Indonesian court on Wednesday handed down prison sentences for five men accused of being involved in killing a Sumatran elephant and illegally trading its ivory, as local conservation authorities look to protect the endangered species. The court in Aceh convicted the men of violating Indonesian laws protecting natural resources and their ecosystems. Jainal, the poacher who killed the elephant and cut off its head, along with Edy Murdani, a man accused of being the first point of sale for the ivory, were both sentenced to three and a half years in prison with a fine of 50 millions rupiah ($3,487). The other three perpetrators — Rinaldi Antonius, Soni and Jeffri Zulkarnaen — were identified as the ivory traders, and face three years in prison and a fine of 100 millions rupiah ($6,973).