Sri Lankan citizen fined MVR 50,000 for illegally fishing in Maldivian waters

A Sri Lankan man has been fined by MVR 50,000 for illegally fishing in Maldivian territory, and also sentenced to 6 months in prison by the Criminal Court for illegally entering the Maldivian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on a fishing boat without obtaining the proper permits.

The man is identified as Mr. Karunakalagelalith Douglas Fernando, Sri Lankan citizen.

Subjecting the man to the fine, the sentence passed down by the Criminal Court last Thursday stated that it has been proven in court upon his own testimony that on the 20th of November last year, he entered and fished in the Maldives Exclusive Economic Zone without obtaining the proper permits from the government.

Fined under the Fisheries Act, the man has been notified to pay the total sum of his fine within a period of one month to the Criminal Court.

The Sri Lankan citizen was sentenced to 6 months in prison after charges raised against him by the State for defiance of orders, for entering the Maldivian Exclusive Economic Zone on the 19th of last month without obtaining the proper permits were proven against him. The charges were proven based on his own confessions.