Kota Kinabalu: A 67-year-old man who was convicted on three charges of illegally having Tembadau parts was fined a total of RM206,000 and jailed one year.
The species is fully protected in Sabah.
Sessions Court Judge Elsie Primus handed the sentence to Chung En Kin (inset), whose case was brought up for sentencing on Friday.
In meting out the sentence, the court said the offence committed by Chung was a serious offence as the Tembadau is a protected animal and the sentence imposed on him should give him a lesson.
The court also said in view of the public interest, a good behaviour bond (BOGB) applied by the defence was not suitable in imposing the sentence.
On the first count, Chung was fined RM150,000 or a year’s jail and jailed one year for having 36.10kg meat of Banteng (Bos Javanicus) Tembadau, an animal which is fully protected under Part I of Schedule 1, amended 2002 No. 10 of the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997, without permission, unless authorised in writing by the Minister acting on the advice of the Director.
The offence, under Section 41(1) of the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 and punishable under Section 41(4) (a) of the same Enactment, carries a fine of between RM50,000 and RM250,000 or a jail term of between one month and five years, on conviction.
On the second count, Chung was ordered to pay a fine of RM19,000 in default three months’ jail for having five carcasses of large flying fox Petropus vampyrus, an animal which is protected under Part 1 (No. 1) of the Schedule 3 of the same Enactment, without a valid possession permit.
The offence, falls under Section 41(2) of the same Enactment and punishable under Section 41(4)(c ) of the same Enactment, which carries a fine of RM30,000 or three years jail or both, on conviction.
On the third count, he was fined RM37,000 for having 4.8kg of Sambar deer (Cervus unicolor) meat, its four legs weighing 3.4kg and one horn, a protected animal listed under Part 1 (no.9) of the Schedule 3 of the same Enactment, also without a valid possession permit.
The charge under Section 41(2) of the same Enactment and punishable under Section 41(4)(c ) of the same Enactment, which carries a fine of between RM30,000 and RM50,000 or a jail term of up to three years jail, or both, on conviction.
Chung committed the offences at 2.50pm on April 18, 2019 at a building or premises of Kedai Emas Heng Cheong, on the first floor of Block B, Centenary Complex in Kota Belud.
During mitigation, counsel Sylyester Kuan who defended Chung, asked for BOGB saying that his client is 67-years-old and suffering from hypertension for which he needed supervision from his family.
Kuan informed the court that it was Chung’s first offence and the breadwinner of his family namely, his two children and wife.
He further said the court should consider that when the items were seized, they were in the form of meat, adding that even during the trial a prosecution witness who is from the Wildlife Department, he himself (witness) could not identify the meat is Tembadau if they were not sent to Chemistry Department for identification of the species.
However, Prosecuting Officer Abdul Karim Dakog of the Wildlife Department urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence as the case was involved public interest.
“It is a serious environmental offence and received heavy attention in and outside the country by both the government and NGOs.
“Tembadau species are fully protected under the wildlife conservation enactment 1997 and looking at the amount of heavy penalties, it shows this offence is very serious.
“The purpose of the sentence to give a lesson to Chung to not repeat the offence as well as to deter others from committing the same offence,” said Abdul Karim.
According to Abdul Karim, wildlife is one of attractions for foreign tourists to come to Sabah which makes it an economic resource.
“The Tembadau species is fully protected in Sabah because it is on the verge of extinction as the habitat of this large mammal is decreased and also exposed with environmental crime because of illegal possession of meat activity.
“According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, Bos Javanicus (Banteng) is categorised as endangered, indicating that this species is increasingly endangered and will go extinct if not prevented.
“Apart from Tembadau, deer and Keluang are also tourist attractions and part of the food chain in the ecosystem in the forest which are also protected in the 1997 Wildlife Conservation Enactment.
“But when this fully protected animals such as Tembadau and the other animals being the target to get for its meat as well as its other parts, it will accelerate the rate of extinction beyond IUCN expectations.
“The effect, apart from the animals will disappear on the earth of Sabah forever, it will tarnish the image of the people and Sabah in the eyes of the world because it is seen as not serious in preventing the extinction of endangered animals and not protecting the environment in Sabah.”
Six prosecution witnesses were called while only one defence testified during the hearing.
The court granted Chung’s application to stay the execution of the sentence pending appeal to the High Court. But the court ordered Chung to pay another additional amount of bail which is RM20,000.
Chung posted the additional bail amount.
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