Monday, 25 July 2016

Kenya: Ivory smuggling Kingpin gets 20 years in jail


After more than 2 years of  twists and turns, Feisal Mohammed Ali was sentenced to 20 years in jail by a Mombasa law court for posession of  2 tons of ivory worth 44 million shillings.

The Kenya Wildlife Service issued a statement saying "The guilty verdict is a strong message to all networks of poaching gangs, ivory smugglers, financiers, middlemen and shippers that Kenya will not watch as its elephant population is decimated or its territory used as a conduit for traffickers."

About time a top man was successfully prosecuted. That the case was never quietly dropped was largely thanks to the efforts of the NGO WildlifeDirect, who ensured that it was kept high profile and that justice was not corrupted, despite various irregularities on the way.

The defence is expected to appeal against the sentence so it's not quite all over yet.

Power to the Kenyan people who are now realizing that wildlife is not only their heritage, but also an irreplaceable treasure, job creator and foreign currency earner.

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