A local male and an Indonesian citizen were sentenced to 12 months of imprisonment by the Sessions Court of Taiping.
According to a statement by the State Forestry Department, Muhamad Shafiq Haris, 31 and Taufik Hidayat, 26, pleaded guilty towards charges read in front of Judge Zulhelmy Hasan.
They were charged with stealing forest goods and entering Sangga Besar Island Forest Reserve near Kuala Sepetang without possession of a license, permit or any form of authorisation documents at 3.10am on December 17, 2020.
Both committed the offence under Subsection 15(1) of the National Forestry Act 1984 (Amendment 1985) and were charged under Subsection 47(1) of the National Forestry Act 1984 for trespassing a forest.
Previously, enforcement officers of the forestry department arrested both defendants who intruded the forest area and seized two boats along with 800 wood sticks of the kayu jaras (mangrove) variety.
The court has ordered for deprivation of rights of all items of the case, which are the boats and woods, to the forestry department.
The forestry department reminded the public that the National Forestry Act 1984 (Amendment 1985) is still in enforcement through monitoring and patrolling even though the Movement Control Order period is ongoing.
Rosli Mansor
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