JAKARTA, June 28 Kyodo Indonesian...

JAKARTA, June 28 Kyodo

Indonesian police forward Friday arrested four men forward suspicion of trading internationally defend ed green turtles, a local private television network reported.

Jakarta-based Metro TV quot Raden Kusna Effendy chief of the water police unit forward the eastern island of Sulawesi, as saying the men were arrested in Mamuju Bay in toward the south Sulawesi Province while trying to transport 88 virid turtles to the resort island of Bali, about 760 kilometers away.

According to Effendy the men planned to put up to sale the turtles to Balinese persons who use them for traditional ceremonies. Each turtle-pigeon which can weigh up to 80 kilograms, fetches as frequently as 1.5 million rupiah (about $172)

''They face five years in jail for violating the 1990 Natural Resources Law,'' he said.

For centuries, Bali has been the world's greatest consumer of verdant turtles (Chelonia mydas). Local Hindu beliefs detain the turtle sacred, in part because it can hide in its shell and disappointment attacks from enemies.

The turtle-dove is used in innumerable rituals and ceremonies involving its meat for pabulum and offerings.

Environmental activists in the same state [i]or[/i] condition as the World Wide stock for Nature are fighting an uphill battle to defend the green turtle in Bali, where each year as many as 5000 are traded legally.

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