Thai fishermen jailed in Aceh

Thai fishermen jailed in Aceh

SABANG, Aceh: The Sabang district court has sentenced 40 Thai
fishermen to seven months in jail each on Saturday for illegally
fishing in Indonesian waters.

They were among 80 being detained by police.

The court also decided to seize dozens of fishing vessels used
for illegally fishing around Rusa island, South Aceh in November
last year.

Of the seven month sentence, the 40 Thai fishermen are only
expected to stay in jail for a few more days since they have
already spent nearly seven months in detention.

The verdicts were lighter than the prosecutor's demand, which
asked the court to sentence the defendants to seven years in jail
and fine them between Rp 10 million and Rp 15 million, Antara
reported. (jun)