In July 2017, Baligwa Alphonse a Congolese from DRC met one named as Youssouf Charly in a drinking place and agreed with him to kill elephants. Youssouf handed to Baligwa a war weapon (type PMK) and twelve ammunition loaders and Baligwa went to the forest with the help of one known as Héritier. He killed one elephant and sold the tusks weighing 15kgs at XAF 700,000 (seven hundred thousand) that he shared with the others. When Youssouf died, Baligwa took possession of the PMK and ammunition. He went again to the forest and killed another elephant and sold the ivory tusks weighing 9kgs at XAF 400,000 (four hundred thousand). Following police investigations, Baligwa Alphonse was arrested and brought before the state prosecutor and then sent to court for trial.
The Public Prosecutor's Office and the Sangha Departmental Directorate of Water and Forests vs Baligwa Alphonse
Country
Territorial subdivision
Court
Type of court
Seat of court
Ouesso
Court jurisdiction
Date of opinion
2018
Abstract
Language of document
French
Reference number
No. 040/2018
Charges
Killing of totally protected species, illegal possession of war weapons and ammunition
Species
Money value
15kgs sold at XAF 700,000
Transnational
No
Decision
Baligwa Alphonse was found guilty of hunting with a war weapon and ammunitions, killing of totally protected species (elephants).
Appealed
No
Penalty
Baligwa Alphonse was sentenced to three years imprisonment, XAF 200,000 (two hundred thousand) as fines and XAF 500,000 (five hundred thousand) as damages each and to pay court fees. The imprisonment in default of payment was fixed to its minimum.