3-year jail, fine, for Czech scientists

Nearly three months after their arrest in Darjeeling on June 22 for collecting rare specimens of insects from a protected forest area, Chief Judicial Magistrate of Darjeeling awarded punishment to Czech entomologists Petr Svacha and Emil Kucera.

Nearly three months after their arrest in Darjeeling on June 22 for collecting rare specimens of insects from a protected forest area, Chief Judicial Magistrate of Darjeeling awarded punishment to Czech entomologists Petr Svacha and Emil Kucera. While Svacha was slapped with a fine of Rs 20,000 and his passport impounded for one month, Kucera was sentenced to three years simple imprisonment and fined Rs 60,000. He was, however, granted bail. Lawyer of the scientists, Taranga Pandit said both were sentenced under the Wildlife Protection Act and the National Biodiversity Act.

Speaking to The Indian Express from Darjeeling, Czech Ambassador Dr Hynek Kmonicek said his government would not like to comment on the judgment awarded by an impartial judicial system. He said: 8220;I8217;m satisfied with the order. We have always maintained that the scientists should be punished for what they did, not for what they did not. The allegations that they were collecting specimens in a national park for commercial purpose and that they trade such insects is not true.8221;

The Ambassador further added, 8220;It8217;s surprising that different sentences were handed down to them for the same offence, committed at the same place and at the same time.8221;

The court, however, explained for the difference in their punishment. Pandit said, 8220;Svacha was let off with a fine because the court took into consideration his reputation as a renowned entomologist and his educational background. He was said to be a victim of circumstances.8221; The counsel added, 8220;An appeal would be filed against Kucera8217;s sentence before the District and Sessions Court of Darjeeling within a month.8221;

The ambassador also mentioned the uproar over the issue in his country. 8220;It may be a small issue in India but in Czech Republic it is a huge affair. Since the day the entomologists were arrested, the matter has been widely reported by Czech media with an average of 60 print and electronic media reports coming out everyday.8221; Hinting at the impact of bandh in the Hills on the trial, Kmonicek said, 8220;The scientists had to spend a month in jail without trial as the courts were closed. It was a trying time for them and their families.8221;

Ever since their arrest on June 22, the scientist community in India and abroad has been appealing to grant leniency for the Czechs. Reacting to the sentence, Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan, Fellow Scientist, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment told The Indian Express from Bangalore that the conviction was a great disappointment. 8220;The order has hurt the world scientific community. Justice is denied to the scientists, whose purpose was only to conduct research. Instead, if the scientists were let off with the specimens they collected, their knowledge would have been a great asset for the data deficient northeast Himalaya biodiversity area,8221; said Dharma Rajan.