Slovakian Government Pays The Biggest Ever Fine Of 10.5 Million
The Slovak Government paid a fine of Rs 10.85 million imposed on five Slovak nationals found guilty of illegally collecting endemic animal and plant species from the Sinharaja Rainforest.Environmentalists say the fine is the largest ever imposed under the Fauna & Flora Protection Ordinance. Slovak Government Officials, who were present in court on behalf of the five men, paid the fine imposed on them and secured their release. The officials had come from the Slovak embassy in New Delhi. Kalawana Magistrate Dulan Weerawardena imposed the fine after the five men pleaded guilty to 37 charges filed against them under the Fauna & Flora Protection Ordinance.
However, the Magistrate rejected a request made by the Wildlife Conservation Department to impose an order prohibiting the Slovaks from entering the country again. The department requested that a travel ban be imposed on the grounds that the five men’s professions had not been established. The Magistrate rejected the request for a travel ban, stating that the court had no jurisdiction to do so, and directed the department to make its request to the relevant authority.