Poacher’s release may boost wildlife crime
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APR 19 - Notorious poacher Pemba Lama aka Yakche will be freed from Central Jail after two months.
His impending release has opened a can of worms about the sincerity of the administration and judiciary. It also raises doubt as to whether the government really has the will to curb crime.
Yakche was given a five-year jail term for killing 20 rhinos — the highest tally in the poaching history of Nepal. Six others of Yakche’s gang got 10 years’ imprisonment. Yakche was arrested in 2005 in Chitwan National Park (CNP) and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment by the then park authority. In 2008, Hetauda Appellate Court reversed the decision and meted out a reduced sentence of five years to over 100 convicted smugglers, including Yakche.
Former assistant chief warden of CNP and now an official at the Ministry of Forests Kamal Jung Kunwar said weak law enforcement is a challenge for conservationists and a shield for poachers.
According to the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (NPWC) Act 1973, rhino poachers or body parts smugglers will get five to 15 years’ jail or a fine of Rs.50,000 to Rs.100,000.
Conservationists say the decision to free poachers in 2007 was proof politicians are the poachers’ patrons. The then cabinet decided to release them on bail on ‘Democracy Day’.
Prasanna Yonzon of Wildlife Conservation Nepal said, “NPWC Act must be amended.” He feared that poaching would scale up as Yakche’s release will hearten smugglers. Supreme Court lawyer Padam Bahadur Shrestha said Yakche’s case was intentionally delayed and a technically weak case was forwarded to the court. B K Dalit of Team for Nature and Wildlife said the Hetauda Appellate Court sent the appeal very late to the Attorney General’s Office and the Supreme Court dismissed it saying that the time provided by the Act to appeal the case had expired.
Posted on: 2010-04-19 08:37
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