Man fined RM50,000 for possessing leopard
KOTA KINABALU: A selfemployed man was yesterday slapped with a hefty fine of RM50,000, in default, 12 months in jail for illegally possessing a clouded leopard.
Muhamad Rizduan Ibrahim, 24, was ordered to pay the fine after Sessions Court Judge Ainul Shahrin Mohamed ruled that the prosecution had established a case beyond reasonable doubt against him.
In mitigation, Rizduan’s counsel Mohd Ari Nadzrah prayed that the court impose a lenient sentence considering his client’s youthfulness and the fact that the latter has three dependants to care for with no steady income.
In reply, prosecuting officer Augustine Tuuga from the Wildlife Department urged the court to impose a heavy sentence on Rizduan to serve as a lesson to him and would-be offenders.
Augustine urged the court to consider the consequences of the offence by stressing that the clouded leopard, which was still a cub, ought to have grown up alongside its mother for it to learn to survive in the wild and reproduce.
Due to the fact that Rizduan had kept the cub in a controlled environment, the cub has now lost its natural instinct to hunt and was now unable to fend for itself in the wild, said Augustine.
More importantly, the offence committed by Rizduan had directly impacted the cub’s chance of living to copulate and increase the population of its species, Augustine emphasised.
Furthermore, Augustine stressed that the transaction from the sale of the cub had been carried out through unscrupulous means such as through a secret group via Facebook.
At the request of Ari, the court allowed Rizduan to pay his fine in five installments between December 14 this year and March 14 next year with the undertaking of Ari for his client.
The court added that Ari and his client must be present in court to secure payment of the fine, and a jail term will run starting from the date of any default on payments.
Rizduan had claimed trial on July 30 when he was alleged to have possessed the leopard, or scientifically known as Neofilis Nebulosa, without a licence at a car park in front of a shop in Sulaman Central here on July 25 at around 9.30pm.
Under Section 41(2) of the Wildlife Protection Enactment 1997, Rizduan is liable to a fine of up to RM50,000 or a maximum jail term of five years, or both.