Rhino trafficker's term cut

26 September 2014 - 02:20 By Dominic Skelton
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BOOTS: SANParks rangers scour the terrain in search of poachers' spoor. Poachers are decimating the rhino population of the Kruger National Park. File photo
BOOTS: SANParks rangers scour the terrain in search of poachers' spoor. Poachers are decimating the rhino population of the Kruger National Park. File photo

The Supreme Court of Appeal yesterday reduced the 30-year jail term handed down to Thai rhino horn trafficker Chumlong Lemtongthai to 13 years.

Lemtongthai must pay a R1-million fine.

Acting deputy judge president Mahomed Navsa said the original sentence was "disproportionate when compared to the minimum sentences statutorily prescribed for other serious offences".

Ahead of another rhino poaching case, the hearing of which resumes on Monday, a petition on the website Avaaz.org calls on the Hatfield Magistrate's Court to deny bail to Hugo Ras and his nine co-accused.

The petition was signed by more than 10000 people.

The accused are alleged to have been involved in killing 22 rhinos between 2008 and 2012.

The petition says: "The accused have the means and ability to flee the country and we implore the court to deny them bail."

The men are charged with theft, fraud, money laundering, malicious damage to property, intimidation, and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

The group is alleged to have been involved with the killing of 22 rhinos in state and private game reserves between 2008 and 2012. The website says that “these accused all have the means to, and ability to, flee the country and as such we implore the court to deny them bail pending their trial”.

The alleged poachers face charges including theft, fraud, money laundering, malicious damage to property, intimidation, and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

The criminal procedures act says the state must take into account, when deciding to grant bail, whether the nature or circumstances of the offences are likely to “induce a sense of shock or moral outrage in the community where the offence was committed” or that “the sense of peace and security among members of the public will be undermined or jeopardized by the release of the accused”. They must also consider the likelihood that the accused will attempt to evade trial.

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