Pomegranate Cloud/Xinjiang Legal News reporter Fang Jiawei Correspondent Yasen Yahefujiang
In the critical period of spring ploughing, Ai, a resident of the Fourth Division of the Corps, frequently planted trees in good time. Different from others, he planted trees to fulfill the court’s obligation to “pay” for the deforestation.
The picture above shows the site of Ai’s forest belt after felling, and the two pictures below show the situation of Ai’s replanting and re-greening. Picture provided by the People’s Court of Huocheng Reclamation District
On February 16 this year, the People’s Procuratorate of the Fourth Division of the Corps of Huocheng Reclamation District filed a public prosecution with the People’s Court of Huocheng Reclamation District, accusing the defendant Ai of committing the crime of deforestation. A criminal incidental civil public interest lawsuit was filed on the same day.
The Huocheng Reclamation District Court found out that local resident Ai, knowing that his father’s logging permit had expired, privately took his father on September 20, 2020 without obtaining a new logging permit. The forest belt planted on the north side of the 19th Company Pile Field of the 64th Regiment of the Fourth Division was sold to Ma. When Ma asked him whether he had a forest logging permit and whether he could cut the forest belt, he lied that “it can be harvested”. The next day, when Ma hired others to cut down 54 poplar trees in the forest belt, he was discovered by the staff of the local forestry management department and called the police.
On September 22 of that year, the Forest Branch of the Fourth Division Kekedala City Public Security Bureau filed a case for investigation. After identification, the stumbling stock of these 54 poplars is 15.2105 cubic meters, and the value is 5780 yuan.
After the trial, the court held that the defendant, Ai, violated the provisions of my country’s forest law by allowing others to cut trees without the approval and issuance of a forest logging certificate by the competent forestry department. Forest crime. The facts of the crime charged by the public prosecution agency are clear and the evidence is indeed sufficient. If the crime is convicted, the defendant should be punished. After the defendant Ai was brought to justice, he truthfully confessed the crime, was willing to accept punishment, and voluntarily signed the affidavit of guilt and punishment, which could be dealt with leniently in accordance with the law. Regarding the part of the public interest litigation, on the basis of the defendant’s previous replanting and replanting, the defendant is required to continue replanting and replanting within a time limit to ensure that the acceptance rate after 3 years is more than 85%. After verification, Ai made a public apology to the public in the Xinjiang Legal News on March 1, promising not to do anything illegal in the future.
To sum up, on March 11, the Huocheng Reclamation District Court made a judgment that Ai was guilty of deforestation and was sentenced to 8 months in prison, suspended for 1 year.