Kota Kinabalu: A 31-year-old businessman was jailed a year and fined RM74,000 or four months’ jail for having a live pangolin which is a protected animal, without permit.
Sessions Court Judge Elsie Primus meted out the sentence to Rodzlan Madtaah who changed his plea and admitted to the charge against him when his case was brought up for mention to fix new date for trial continuation.
So far there were three prosecution witnesses that were called to testify in the hearing.
The court ordered Rodzlan to serve the jail sentence from the date of his conviction which was on Thursday.
He was found having the pangolin (Manis Javanica) without valid authorisation from the Wildlife Director, at 11am on Jan 3, 2018 in a car at the petrol station in Lebak Moyoh, Kota Belud.
The charge stated that pangolin is a fully-protected animal listed under Schedule 1, Part 1, of Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997.
Rodzlan was charged under Section 41(2) of the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 and punishable under Section 41(4) of the same Enactment, which carries a fine of between RM50,000 and RM250,000 or jail term of between one year and five years, or both, on conviction.
During mitigation, counsel Nurulziani Md Sharif who represented Rodzlan, asked for leniency by taking into consideration that her client had pleaded guilty to the charge and that showed he repented.
Nuruziani informed the court that Rodzlan had apologised for his wrongdoing and hoped the court would give him a chance to be a good citizen.
She further said that Rodzlan who is currently a jobless due to the Covid-19, has three children, a wife and parents to look after.
However Prosecuting Officer Abdul Karim Dakog from the Wildlife Department urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence on the grounds that the Pangolin is an endangered species which is protected in the State.
“One of the threat to this extinction was due to the illegal activity of possessing Pangolin which is becoming more frequent due to illegal demand.
“Therefore, if this act is not curbed, it can cause disappearance to the population of the species in the near future,” said Abdul Karim.
