Country
Territorial subdivision
Type of court
Seat of court
Libreville
Court jurisdiction
Date of opinion
2020
Abstract
In December 2019, the Conservator of MOUKALABA Doudou National Park informed judicial police officers that an elephant was being killed in the river of the national park, where the bones of this animal were found. Following the investigations, Mbina and Nziengui were arrested. During the preliminary inquiries the accused partially denied the facts. Nziengui declared to have entered the national park. Mbina following several denials finally admitted to have possessed ivory tusks and have entered the park several times with Nziengui to fish. Abu Fred admitted to be resident in Gabon without a resident permit and that the tusks were the property of Mbina.
Language of document
French
Reference number
Decision No 026/2019-2020
Charges
Unauthorized intrusion (trespassing) into a national park, possession of ivory tusks.
Species
Transnational
No
Decision
The accused were found guilty. - The accused were caught red handed - Concerning the trespassing in a national park: Nziengui and Mbina declared that they entered the park with the authorization of park agents but no evidence was provided in the case file - Concerning the possession of ivory tusks: Mbina declared to have found the ivory tusks in the forest and have kept them and that he is the owner of the tusks while knowing that it is forbidden by the law. - The case file was splitted into two: one sent to the specialized criminal court for wildlife offences and one for the ordinary criminal court for the resident permit offence.
Appealed
No
Penalty
NZIENGUI Clark was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment including 1 year suspended and a fine of XAF 200,000 (two hundred thousand) MBINA Marcelin was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment including 2 years suspended and a fine of XAF 10897500 (ten million eight hundred ninety seven thousand five hundred) included XAF 9,897,500 (nine million eight hundred ninety seven thousand five hundred) suspended; The accused were sentenced to pay the sum of XAF 3000000 (three million) as damages and interest; The accused were ordered to pay the costs; The court ordered the sealed products to be made available to the competent administration.
Legislation cited
Decree No 163/PR/MEF setting the conditions for the possession, transport and trade in wild animal species, trophies and hunting products