25 Nov 2004

Indonesia jails Vietnamese skipper for smuggling timber out of Papua

10:35 am on 25 November 2004

A Vietnamese ship's captain has been jailed by an Indonesian court for smuggling timber from the province of Papua.

The North Jakarta District Court has sentenced Ngo Van Tuan to two years' jail for helping transport the timber to Singapore.

Ngo's boat was captured last November with more than 15,000 cubic metres of wood on board.

Environmentalists said the sentence, which was half the amount demanded by prosecutors, was too short.

They called for police to apprehend the Indonesians and foreigners who supported the smuggling.

Ngo is the only person to be charged for the offence.