THE Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam yesterday sentenced Nyanza Commercial Farm Manager, Dilipkumar Patel, to 20 years in jail or pay 534m/- fine for illegal possession of 17 pieces of Lion claws, which are government trophies.
Principal Resident Magistrate Cyprian
Mkeha imposed the sentence after convicting Patel with one count of
relating to economic offence of unlawful possession of the government
trophies, considering the evidence tendered by four prosecution
witnesses.
The magistrate also took into
consideration three exhibits, including the Lion claws, certificate of
seizure and market value certificate of the government trophies involved
and the defence testimony given by the convict.
He pointed out that the prosecution
sufficiently proved beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Patel committed the
offence in question. The convict was sent to jail after he failed to pay
the fine, as an alternative remedy that had been given by the court to
the offence.
Before being sentenced, the convict
requested the court to have mercy on him, because he was sick and that
he has family members and other people who were depending on him.
During the trial, the prosecution had
told the court that Mr Patel committed the offence on November 19, 2016
at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Ilala District, Dar es
Salaam.
It was alleged that on that day and
place, Mr Patel was found with 17 pieces of Lion claws, which are
government trophies valued at 53,483,500/-, being the property of the
United Republic of Tanzania without a permit from the Director of the
Wildlife Division.
Mr Patel was brought before the court
for the first time to answer the charge on November 28, 2016, where he
was charged alongside two other people, Sanjv Patel and Ashok Kumar,
whose case was determined in May this year, after he pleaded guilty to
another separate charge besides what commonly faced them.
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