KUCHING: The Sessions Court here yesterday sentenced an Indonesian man to a total of 12 months in jail and fine of RM394,000 in default 12 months’ imprisonment for unlawfully possessing 65 birds of various species.

Judge Musli Ab Hamid meted out the sentence against Komarudin who pleaded guilty to two charges framed under different Sections of the Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998.

For the first charge under Section 37(2)(b), Komarudin was sentenced to six months’ jail and a fine of RM330,000 in default six months in jail.

For the second charge under Section 37(1), he was jailed for six months in jail and fined RM64,000 in default six months’ jail.

The jail sentences were ordered to run concurrently from the date of arrest.

Komarudin, who was unrepresented by counsel, failed to pay the fine.

According to the facts of the case, the accused was arrested during a raid by General Operations Force personnel on a house in Kampung Serikin, Bau on Nov 25, 2023.

The raid uncovered 65 birds of various species, including protected species, among them a Sunda pygmy woodpecker, six green-cheeked conure and 25 fisher’s lovebird, magpie robin, and grey-cheeked bulbul.

Komarudin failed to show that he had valid permission or licence from the Controller of Wild Life to keep the birds.

The prosecution was conducted by prosecuting officer Leonard Baring.