Gianyar Art Dealer Faces One-Year Sentence for Trading Elephant Ivory

An art and antiques dealer, I Ketut Suteja, also known as IKS, has been recommended for a one-year prison sentence during a trial at the Gianyar District Court. Suteja was charged with trading five crafted items made from Asian elephant (Elephas Maximus) ivory.

“Declare the defendant IKS proven guilty of possessing, storing, transporting, and trading specimens or parts of animals,” said Public Prosecutor Dayu Dian during the hearing on Monday, 3 August 2026. “The panel of judges is asked to sentence the defendant I Ketut Suteja to one year in prison and a fine of Rp 15 million.”

Dian stated that Suteja was proven to have sold five elephant tusks, an act regulated under Article 40 paragraph 1 of the Law on Conservation of Living Natural Resources and Ecosystems. Two of the tusks had already been crafted into ornaments, while the other three remained intact. Although they had not yet been sold, the five tusks were priced at Rp 60 million and Rp 40 million respectively.

“The aggravating factor is that he was proven to have traded in the body parts of a protected animal,” Dian added.

According to the indictment, the case began when Suteja received the five tusks on consignment from an individual named Ida Bagus Nyoman Prawitra. Suteja was asked to sell the tusks to a buyer through his social media account. Shortly after, Suteja found a buyer from Surabaya and agreed to meet them at Prawitra’s house on Jalan Surya Brata, Tampaksiring Village, on 14 April 2026. Instead of meeting a buyer, Suteja and Prawitra were raided by officers from the Gianyar Agriculture, Forestry, and Plantation Agency. Suteja was the first to be named a suspect and face trial, while Prawitra remains a suspect with his case yet to reach the court.