KOTA KINABALU – A 64-year-old man from Kota Belud has been told to enter his defence after authorities caught him in possession of several protected wildlife species’ bushmeat.
Chung En Kin was found to have illegally obtained banteng (wild buffalo), flying fox, and sambar deer meat in April 2019, and faces three charges of illegal possession of bushmeat.
Authorities found him with the items on April 18, 2019 at Kedai Emas Heng Cheong, Cemetery Complex in Kota Belud.
The Vibes was told by the Sabah Wildlife Department that the senior citizen had pleaded not guilty to the charges laid out against him by the wildlife authorities. His case will be heard in the Kota Kinabalu Sessions Court on August 11 and 26.
Judge Elsie Primus ordered Chung to prove his innocence after the prosecution was able to establish prima facie against him.
Chung was found with 36.1kg of banteng meat, five flying fox carcasses, and 4.8kg of sambar deer venison, without the proper permits.
He is being charged under Section 41 of the Sabah Wildlife Conservation Enactment. If found guilty, he can be fined a maximum of RM250,000 and get a five-year-jail sentence for illegally possessing banteng meat.
For his possession of the flying fox carcasses and sambar deer, the 60-year-old can be fined up to RM30,000 and jailed for up to three years for both charges separately if found guilty.
The prosecution, under Abdul Karim Dakof of the Wildlife Department, had called six witnesses in the hearing. Chung was represented by counsel Sylvester Kuan.
In a similar development, a 46-year-old man has been sentenced to four years’ imprisonment for killing a male Borneo pygmy elephant in Sungai Udin in Tawau in 2019.
Indonesian Martin Alok, who was unrepresented in court, pleaded guilty before sessions court judge Awang Kerisnada Awang Mahmud yesterday.
He was charged under Section 41(1) of the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 for the offence of possessing a fully protected animal and animal parts.
Alok will serve the sentence from the date of remand on October 4, 2019 and will be referred to the Immigration Department for deportation after serving his time in jail.
Three other accused, Paranchoi Nordin, 61, Abdullah Simin, 70, and Jaifol Liun, 51, were discharged not amounting to acquittal.
A group of anglers found the elephant carcass without its tusks, tied to a tree on a riverbank on September 29, 2019.
The post mortem report found that the elephant was shot around 70 times at close range. The suspects were detained on October 2, 2019 at the Felda Umas 4 and Kg Felda Umas Kalabakan under Op Khazanah.
Paranchoi and Abdullah admitted to shooting the elephant and were sentenced to a two-year-jail term under the Firearm Act in 2019.
Abdullah was present when Paranchoi and Martin butchered the animal and buried the tusks.
Felda plantation manager Jaifol had paid for the bullets and instructed Abdullah and Paranchoi to open fire into the air to scare off the pachyderm but apparently, they failed to chase the animal away.
Due to his failure to report the matter to the authorities, Jaifol was also charged under Section 50 of the state’s wildlife law. Pygmy elephants in Sabah are categorised as a totally protected species.
Paranchoi and Abdullah were represented by Kamarudin Mohmad Chinki while Jaifol was represented by counsel Mohamed Zairi Zainal Abidin.
The prosecution was led by deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Hurman Hussain and assisted by DPP Kershanathan Pathmanathan.
A reward of RM20,000 offered to those provided information leading to the arrest of the suspects has also been given away, according to Sabah Wildlife Department. – The Vibes, July 15, 2021
