SEREMBAN: A 30-year-old man was fined RM10,000 by the Sessions Court here after he pleaded guilty to two charges of keeping endangered wildlife without a valid licence.
Muhammad Nazrin Md Yunus did not contest the charges after these were read to him before judge Mohamad Kamil Nizam.
The accused, who was fined RM5,000 for each offence, was ordered to serve three months in jail for each charge in the event he was unable to pay the fines.
Muhammad Nazrin was charged separately with being in possession of a Malayan porcupine (Hystrix brachyura) and a white-rumped shama (Copsychus malabaricus) which were both protected under the Wildlife Protection Act 2010.
He was charged with committing the offences around 1.30pm at a house in Felda Pasoh 1, Simpang Pertang on May 21 last year.
He was charged under Section 60(1) of the Act which carries a fine of up to RM50,000 or a jail term not exceeding three years or both upon conviction.
The accused, who was unrepresented, asked for a lenient sentence as he did not have a permanent job and had to provide for his parents.
Wildlife and National Parks Department prosecuting officer Ain Nur Shainaz Abdullah asked for a penalty commensurate with the offences as a deterrent to others.
In a separate case, a 42-year-old shop assistant Tan Mei Ching, 42 was fined RM5,000 after she pleaded guilty to a charge of keeping two endangered African spurred tortoises (Geochelone sulcata) without a valid licence.
The offence was committed at a house in Taman Baiduri near here in April last year.
The accused, who was unrepresented, told the court that she had no knowledge that keeping the reptiles was an offence and she had merely kept them for good feng shui.
Both accused paid the fine.
