Man Illegally Fells and Sells Wood for Over €76,400; Faces 5 Years in Jail

An investigator from the criminal police department of the Regional Directorate of the Police Force in Banska Bystrica has accused one individual and one legal person with violating regulations for the protection of trees and shrubs under Section 306 of the Criminal Code by logging almost 1,400 m3 of wood in 2018 and 2019 without announcing this activity and without written permission for logging in forest land in the villages of Rimavské Zalužany and Rimavská Baňa in Rimavská Sobota district (Banska Bystrica region). Oto D., the manager of a limited liability company, subsequently sold illegally felled timber worth more than €76,400.

According to Subsection 1 of the aforementioned section of the Criminal Code, anyone who contrary to generally binding legal regulations damages or destroys a tree or shrub in a forestry zone to a major extent, or cuts it down, will be punished with a prison sentence of up to three years. According to Subsection 2a, a prison sentence of one to five years will be imposed on anyone who commits an act referred to in Subsection 1 to a significant extent.

ARTICLE PROVIDED BY THE SLOVAK POLICE