Man jailed 3 months, fined RM15,000 for possessing 200 turtle eggs
The Sessions Court here yesterday sentenced a 50year-old man to three months’ jail and fined him RM15,000 in default four months in prison for possessing 200 turtle eggs without the permission of the wildlife controller in July last year.
Judge Afidah Abdul Rahman convicted Mok Yong Fok on his own guilty plea to a charge framed under Section 29(1) of the Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1988, punishable under Section 29(1)(c) of the same Ordinance, which carries a maximum imprisonment term of two years and a maximum fine of RM25,000.
Mok committed the offence in front of an eatery at RH Plaza, Lorong Lapangan Terbang 1, here at around 3.45pm on July 2, 2022.
Based on the facts of the case, a General Operations Force (GOF) officer and a raiding team from the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) here conducted a joint raid in front of the eatery.
During the raid, the team found Mok in a car, and suspected him to be in possession of marine turtle eggs.
Upon his arrest, the team found in his possession 200 marine turtle eggs packed in 10 black plastic bags, with each bag containing 20 eggs.
Mok failed to furnish any permission in writing from the wildlife controller to possess the marine turtle eggs, and this led the team to seize them.
Investigations found that the seized marine turtle eggs were of the species Cheloniidae, which is a totally protected species specified in Part 1 of the First Schedule of the Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1988.
The case was prosecuted by DPP Roland Felix Hardin and prosecuting officers Christie Sereni Philimon and Paddril Peter, while Mok was unrepresented by legal counsel.