By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, April 8: The Sessions Court has sentenced an Indonesian man who was involved in illegal gold mining activities at Gunung Tabai Cave to six months in prison and ordered the accused to be referred to the Immigration Department after his serving sentence.
Lukas Baidie, 36, from Indonesia, pleaded guilty to two charges.
Sessions Court Judge Martin Pagan then sentenced him to imprisonment of three months for each charge and ordered the imprisonment term to run concurrently.
He was found to have three sacks of soil in his possession by a team from the Sarawak Forestry Corporation during a routine inspection within the Dered Krian National Park, at about 6 am, on April 3, 2021.
Investigations revealed that the soil was removed from Gua Tabai which is located within the Dered Krian National Park.
The accused failed to show any valid permission to enter the Dered Krian National Park and did not have permission to remove from the National Park any object of geological interest.
He was charged under Section 26(a) of the National Parks and Nature Reserves Ordinance 1998 for entering the National Park without permission of the Controller of National Parks and Nature Reserves.
The investigation also revealed that the accused had committed another offence under Section 26(g) of the National Park and Nature Reserves Ordinance 1998 for removing from a national park, an object of geological interest without permission of the controller of National Park and Nature Reserves.
Prosecuting Officer Mohd Fuad Ahmad from the State Attorney-General’s Chambers prosecuted while the accused was unrepresented. — DayakDaily
