Chung En Kin
KOTA KINABALU (May 20): A 66-year-old man received a hefty fine and jail sentence from the Sessions Court here for three counts of possessing the meat, carcasses, body parts and horn of wild animals, including the meat of fully protected Tembadau or Banteng.
Judge Elsie Primus fined Chung En Kin imposed a total of RM206,000 fine and one year behind bars when his case came up for sentencing on Friday.
However, the court granted his application for a stay pending disposal of his appeal to the High Court here.
The accused is currently released on a bail of RM40,000 with the same sureties as before. His previous bail of RM20,000 was maintained and he was ordered to pay an additional RM20,000 bail amount.
He was also ordered to report to a nearest police station twice a month, pending disposal of his appeal.
Chung, who was represented by counsel Sylyester Kuan, was found guilty by the court of all the charges on April 27.
On the first count, he was sentenced to one year’s jail and fined RM150,000, in default, one year’s imprisonment for possessing 36.10kg meat of Banteng whose scientific name is Bos Javanicus and locally known as Tembadau.
Banteng is a fully protected animal according to Schedule 1, Amendment 2002, no. 10 of the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997.
Under the said enactment, it is illegal to have a Banteng, unless with written permission from a minister.
The accused was convicted under Section 41(1) which is punishable under Section 41(4)(a) of the same enactment.
The indictment carries a fine of between RM50,000 and RM250,000 or a jail term of between a month and five years, upon conviction.
On the second count, Chung was fined RM19,000, in default, three months’ jail for possessing the carcasses of five large flying foxes or their scientific name Petropus Vampyrus.
On the third count, he was fined RM37,000, in default, five months’ jail for having 4.8kg of Cervus unicolor or Sambar deer’s meat, 3.4kg of the animal’s four legs weighing 3.4kg and a horn.
Both the second and third charges were leveled under Section 41(2), punishable under Section 41(4)(c) of the same enactment.
The sections carry a fine of up to RM30,000 or a jail term of up three years, or both, upon conviction.
The flying fox and deer were protected animals.
All the offences were committed at a premises in Kota Belud on April 18, 2019.