Magistrate doubles up on rhino sentenceFollowing the 14-year jail sentences imposed of four Chinese nationals guilty of smuggling rhino horns, their lawyer has announced they will appeal. Chinese nationals say they will appeal 0 The jail term of 14 years for the four Chinese men who were convicted of trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns and a leopard hide out of Namibia has been hailed in Namibia’s wildlife circles. Magistrate Alexis Diergaardt on Friday sentenced Li Xiaoliang, Li Zhibing, Pu Xuexin and Wang Hui all to 14 years in prison. The sentences of the first three men were suspended for 30 months while Wang’s sentence was suspended with 28 months for five years on the condition that they are not convicted of export, possession or dealing of wildlife products or the attempt therefor during that time. Li Xiaoliang, Li Zhibing and Pu Xuexin were caught with the rhino horns worth N$2.3 million as well as a leopard hide of about N$50 000 in their luggage on 23 March 2014 at the Hosea Kutako International Airport while Wang, who was believed to be the kingpin of the rhino horn smuggling operation, was arrested in May that year at the Windhoek Country Club and Resort.
During sentencing Diergaardt made it clear that any sentence other than imprisonment will send a message to the international community that they can come to Namibia and commit wildlife crimes without punishment. Diergaardt said that she must give a deterrant sentence that this type of behaviour is not tolerated in Namibia. “If a fine is given the message will be that people can just come to Namibia and commit these acts, pay the money and come back to commit the crime again. “The mere possession of these rhino horns is a furtherance of a crime under the Wildlife Act. Even though they did not kill the animal they took it further and attempted to export the product. “They came from another country without any fear and enjoyed our hospitality and showed no respect for the country’s laws but rather continued to finalise their mission which was to export these rhino horns,” she said. Diergaardt also added that except for Li Zhibing rest of the convicted continued to deny their guilt and that made it difficult to show mercy and to impose different sentences as the court does not know what role they played in the crimes committed.
“They did not testify under oath and did not take the court into their confidence but merely made submissions through their legal representative,” she said. According to Diergaardt she was also not convinced by the degree of remorse shown by the convicted as it was important for the court to see their demeanour because they were working through a translator but they chose not to take the stand. Furthermore Diergaardt said that she does not find anything really special about their personal circumstance regarding their health issues and families suffering in China, because the moment they decided to leave China to come to Namibia to commit these acts they knew that there they will be leaving their families behind. She also said that she does not agree with the argument of the defence that there was no real loss to the State because the rhino horns were recovered adding that the moment the rhinos were killed it was a loss to the country and to the tourism industry. The defence lawyer Orben Sibeya said that they will be filing an appeal at the High Court. Meanwhile the Ministry of Environment and Tourism said that it welcomed the conviction and sentencing of the four men.
“This case has by far been Namibia’s biggest rhino horn smuggling involving 14 rhino horns. The ministry is extremely heartened by the cooperation of all the stakeholders which are the law enforcement agencies, the justice system, and the media who worked very hard since this case was first reported and ensured it resulted in a successful conviction,” it said.