*Translated from the French by an automated online translation service, so please excuse the roughness. See link for original. * Judicial decisions do not deter wildlife traffickers (Gabon) Fabrice Mikomba, Gabon Initiatives November 25, 2018 See link <https://www.gaboninitiatives.com/decisions-justice-dissuasives-encontre-trafiquants-faune/> for photo. LIBREVILLE: Mbaba Maxime and accomplices were arrested on October 22 in Libreville in the act of marketing the trophies of an entirely protected species, in this case 2 ivory tusks. At the hearing on November 12, 2018, the public prosecutor's office had ordered three (3) months' imprisonment with suspended sentence and a fine of FCFA 1,000,000 and 45 days against FCFA 500,000. The judgment rendered at the deliberative hearing of November 22, 2018, respectively recognized Mbaba Maxime, Kassa Ali, and Aba Madi Baba guilty of the offense of marketing ivory. But the sanctions imposed seem weak. In repression, Mbaba Maxime has indeed been sentenced to 3 months suspended sentence and 250,000 FCFA fine. Kassa Ali and Aba Madi Baba were sentenced to 3 months imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 FCFA. The three were jointly and severally condemned to pay 4,000,000 FCFA in damages for the Waters and Forests. Defenders of the environment and in particular protected animal species have obviously been disappointed by these decisions, which are not very dissuasive. In particular, Mbaba Maxime was sentenced to only one suspended prison sentence, despite a flagrant offense that confirmed his main role in the ivory trafficking scandal. Is it his status as a retired law enforcement officer or his privileged contacts who pleaded in his favor? In any case, he was released as soon as the prosecution was released. The prosecution did not ask for a prison sentence and neither did the court inflict one, unlike the other arrested traffickers. Similarly, several court decisions were made public in Mouila on October 31 in the area of wildlife trafficking and illegal logging. They don’t seem very dissuasive. Eyamane J. Parfait and Moukakou Didier and Gao Jingzhu of the Talibois company were sentenced to six months in prison but suspended and fined 2 million each. This, knowing that they organized an industrial logging off license and operated nearly two hundred trees before being arrested, less than 24 hours. In another case of ivory trafficking, Beyémé Agilys, Mihindou Désiré and Ndogou Chéruben were sentenced on October 31 to 6 months in prison including 4 suspended sentences in addition to a fine of 200,000 CFA each and damages 500,000 FCFA each. Finally, Sow Alassane Sileye and Idris Issa were also found guilty of holding and marketing ivory tusks. In repression, they were sentenced to 6 months in prison including 4 suspended and a fine of 200,000 FCFA each and 5 million each in damages. While Gabon is known for its commitment to the protection of its forests and wildlife and is developing various initiatives for the good governance of forest resources, these decisions seem paradoxical, even if they are not the rule. Other courts are generally more stringent with respect to these types of offenses. With this in mind, some associations for the protection of wildlife and the forest have appealed court decisions. They include Muyissi Environment and Conservation Justice. https://www.gaboninitiatives.com/decisions-justice-dissuasives-encontre-trafiquants-faune/ ------------------------------------- This news service is provided by Save the Elephants. For further information on elephants please see Save the Elephants' web site at http://www.savetheelephants.org ------------------------------------- Disclaimer: Please note that we cannot guarantee the accuracy of any news story. In addition, we do not endorse any of the views expressed therein. We simply try to represent fairly what is in the media on elephants. If a reader finds inaccuracies in an article, we are happy to circulate corrections, if these can be verified. -------------- *Recipients: You can manage your own subscriptions, including unsubscribing, subscribing, and changing your email address, all by clicking on the appropriate listserv link below. Also, if you feel you are receiving too many emails, you can sign up for the 'Daily Digest' option. Note that archived news stories are linked to at the top of each page.* African Elephant News: http://elephantnews.org/mailman/listinfo/african-elephant_elephantnews.org Asian Elephant News: http://elephantnews.org/mailman/listinfo/asian-elephant_elephantnews.org All Scientific Papers: http://elephantnews.org/mailman/listinfo/allpapers_elephantnews.org