Chinese national Bin Liu who was arrested for being found with pieces of Ivory and a rifle appeared before court on Thursday in Lilongwe, almost a year after the court found him with a case to answer over wildlife crime charges and illegal possession of firearm.
Liu was arrested in August 2021 after being found in possession of specimen of listed species, namely 13 of processed Ivory and 5 pieces of raw Ivory and also a rifle.
His lawyer Joseph Chiume said a witness in the case showed that the Ivory that was found did not belong to the accused person and that the accused person did not know about the presence of the Ivory.
Chiume added that it is unfortunate that the Liu is suffering for the sins of someone else and that the person who owns the Ivory was mentioned in the court.
“One may wonder why the accused person was arrested in the first place because if proper investigations were done the police would have found that the accused person did not own that Ivory,” he explained.
He further said they are remaining with three witnesses and he requested the court to give them 21 days to find a translator for their witness who cannot speak English in court.
On her part, state prosecutor Hannah Kamange expressed concern over the delay of the case saying it has been a year since the case appeared before court.
Kamange said that of the three charges that Bin Liu is answering, the defence has not provided evidence to disprove the charges.
Bin Liu is answering charges of possession of listed species, namely 13 pieces of raw Ivory and five pieces of processed Ivory without permits.
He was also charged with possession of endangered species namely:one skull of a bushbuck and one skull Impala without permit.
He is also answering a charge of acquiring a firearm from another person without a permit in writing.
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