Rhino Poaching: Arrests, Prosecutions & Sentencing

[Moggiedog]

News 2.2.2015 11.10 am Rhino horn ‘smugglers’ tried this week Alex Mitchley
Two Vietnamese nationals will appear in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court on February 6 court on charges of illegal possession and smuggling.

The two were arrested at OR Tambo airport last year after being found in possession of rhino horn worth R4.5 million.

The suspects appeared in court on January 23, but their names were not be revealed “for security reasons”.

Police believe the suspects had ties to big rhino poaching syndicates operating within South Africa and internationally, Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi told The Citizen.

The suspects were “cooperating with authorities”, he said.

However, it has not yet been established whether the 18 horns seized were poached from rhino within South Africa’s borders.

“All necessary security checks on the suspects and rhino horns has been done. We are awaiting results,” said Mulaudzi.

At the time of the arrest, police suspected the horns had been taken from rhino in the Kruger National Park.

The suspects were arrested in October after allegedly trying to smuggle about 41kg of rhino horn to Hanoi, Vietnam

The case against the two accused YAHN MINH NYUGEN and XUAN LUC NYUGEN was postponed this morning until the 25th February.

[Lisbeth]

Half of the Vietnamese population has the name NYUGEN, so nothing would have been revealed in any case

[Richprins]

The suspects appeared in court on January 23, but their names were not be revealed “for security reasons”.


YAHN MINH NYUGEN and XUAN LUC NYUGEN were diplomats, I think?

[Lisbeth]

The suspects appeared in court on January 23, but their names were not be revealed “for security reasons”.


YAHN MINH NYUGEN and XUAN LUC NYUGEN were diplomats, I think?

Even!!!

[Moggiedog]

Long day in court for the Hugo Ras bail hearing today.
Decision regarding bail will be given 27th February.

There was good attendance in the court from the guys and girls from act4Rhinos.


Following posted to the OSCAP FB page during proceedings :
Regarding racketeering - the state will have to prove that at least occurred during the period of the offenses To be found guilty of racketering. There is no evidence that the accused was ever caught with rhino horns or that horns were ever sold to a specific buyer so they will not be able to prove the racketeering charges.


money laundering charges - Attorney says that the sTate will not be able to prove this either according to the evidence that has been submitted by the state.


interest of justice is not being served by denying bail


bail is normally denied if there is a risk of the accused interfering with the states case by interefering with witnesses or will have an effect on he safety of the public or undermine peace and security.


It is not applicable to consider whether he is guilty or not.


attorney going through Section 64 requirements for denying bail.


accused admits that he does know all the witnesses but undertakes not to interfer with them.


The accused it not a threat to the witnesses as none of them have gone into the witness protection program which shows they are not afraid of being interfered with


the states case that the accused has a propensity for violence is not true as they have not provided any proof of this


The state has gone to great lengths to discredit the accused.


The accused has given his cooperation in the case against him previously in the Pretoria North cases

all the other 8 have been given bail


the state never had evidence to arrest the accused before and only managed to do so after getting their section 204 witnesses


unless the state can prove that there is a risk of interference with witnesses then bail cannot be denied.


The state is relying on speculation of the investigating officer that the accused will interfere with the witnesses.


There is no proof that the accused will undermine public order


the rights of the accused in terms of the constitution must not be indermined


The accused detention will deny him the right to prepare for his case and he may lose his job and not be able to afford a defense.


Constistutuion allows an accused to be released on bail if the interest of justice permits.


The strengths and weaknesses of the states case must be considered


The question of guilt is not relevant in granting bail.


The accused has nevr been caught in possession of rhino horn but the state relies on a section 204 witnesses statement that he was in possession of horn.


It is clear that the state did not have any evidence against the accused until they got their section 204 witnesses. There is no evidence except the statements of the section 204 witnesses


The Defense is wrapping up their case.The accused's previous convictions were a long time ago and he is not asking that it be ignored but the court needs to look at the probabilities that the accused will be violent or not appear in this case if he is given bail.

despite the fact that the state had all these charges against the accused they allowed him to leave the country on numerous occasions before arresting him.


The state has no evidence on the sale of horns.There is no forensic evidence on the trail of funds from the sale of horns or anything. They are relying solely on the witness statements.


n Alarms bells should ring when a state relies solely on state witnesses for their case


It is speculation that the accused has access to funds overseas it is speculation on the states case. They have no forensic evidence of this at all.


the reality is that the accused Attorney is in Potchefstroom and he is in jail in Pretoria.

There is no concrete evidence that the accused will interfere with witnesses.


The court cannot punish him by keeping him in jail


one of the states witnesses has died so his evidence cannot be used. Morene was the witness that has died. This weakens the states case


if all these issues are taken into account the accused should be granted bail


Defense is arguing that on appeal in the Wilkinson bail application the Appeal court granted bail despite them agreeing that the state had a fairly strong prima facia case.


If the court looks at all the facts placed before it in application of bail it should give bail in the interests of justice. Court adjourned for a break


Waiting for court to resume
.Prosecutor says that they were arrested before World rhino day they appeared in court on World Rhino day


very difficult to hear the prosecutor.


She is going through the history of the case so far ie the postponements etc


Prosecutor is arguing that the case against the accused is very different to that of co accused Wilkinson.


The accused has only argued about certain incidents and has ignored the majority of the rest of the charges against him. He is being selective in arguing what suites him to get bail


prosecutor pointing out that Ras went to one of the witnesses who he didn't know prior to this and asked him in foul language what his case was in speaking against him. He apparently went there with "knee breakers" to support him and intimidate the witness


there is a great degree of violence in poaching incidents


there is witness testimony that they bought poison on behalf of Ras.


There is evidence that the accused uses other people to do his dirty work and intimidate people




there is a lot of evidence by many different people which cannot be ignored. He has intimidated people and even when he left his rental property they allegedly caused over R100k of damage to the property when being asked to vacate the property.


The cases he refers to as previous convictions are not all concluded and some are still proceeding


The accused has committed crimes whilst having other cases pending against him. It would seriously undermine public confidence in the justice system if he was released on bail


The court needs to take into account the war against poaching and the very high stats of poached rhinos.


on numerous occasions previously when he was charged with crimes within weeks he had been charged whilst on bail for intimidating witnesses. Whilst out on bail he was still committing crimes ie illegal possession of firearms etc.


he has a history of committing crimes whilst out on bail


The court has to weigh up the probability of him committing crimes whilst out on bail.


The interests of society outweigh those of the accused when they repeatedly commit crimes whilst out on bail.

The public has a right to be protected against the risk of the accused committing more crimes whilst out on bail.

The accused has been court in this case whilst being in custody with three cell phones with Internet access and over 200 contacts he displays continued criminal tendencies even whilst being in jail awaiting trial


This case is very different to his other cases and you cannot say he will not abscond in this case as he didn't in the other cases. This case is very different as this case he is charged with being the leader of the syndicate. not having travel documents does not preclude them from absconding


it is apparent the heavier the sentence that can be given the higher the risk of the accused absconding.


Prosecutor showing a list of telephone calls to hundreds of countries outside SA


It must be noted that there are not only Section 204 witnesses there are many other witnesses


the fact that one of the witnesses has died does not make it impossible to prove their case


the accused had schedule drugs in his possession and only a vet may be in possession of such drugs


there are witnesses that were at the accuseds house when horns were sold.


The accused only responded to a few of the 284 charges against him. He never gave any comment on any of the poachings incidents of whIch he was directly involved.

The accused has undertaken not to interfere with the states witnesses it is submitted that because of the strength of the states case and the heavy sentence that could be imposed is grounds enough to think that he may interfer with the witnesses.

The accused admits that he knew he was under investigation since 2011 but he still continued to commit crimes.


He has no respect of the law or the justice system


on two occasions during previous bail applications he has given incorrect information


Prosecutor is arguing about his previous bail conditions which were not adhered to


she is now referring to petitions and submissions made to the court etc


looking at the circumstances of this case it can be concluded the the public will be outraged and will lose faith in the justice system should he be given bail


it is on record that the state has done everything in its power to bring this case to trial. The delays have been caused from the accused side. It cannot be argued that it is unfair to keep the accused in jail pending trial as it will be unfair. There have not been undue delays in this case


Prosecutor argues that the accused's bail will not be paid by himself but paid by others and so he remains a flight risk as he has nothing to lose when somebody else is paying his bail


Allison Thomson Prosecutor argued that even though he says he is a businessman he has not proven what business he is in and he has no regular form of income.


In the light of all these things above and the fact that he has not stuck to previous bail conditions it is clear that he should be denied bail. Prosecutor closes.


Recess for lunch


Waiting for court to start again. Magistrate has been called

court is back in session

magistrate says he just wants to ask a few questions


there are two paragraphs numbered the same in the accused affidavit.


Magistrate is just going through some of his previous convictions that have been referred to in the documentation


he has paid numerous Admission of Guilt fines in previous cases.


There is just a little confusion at the moment about the duplication of a case being referred to.


Magistrate is just clearing up some issues on some of the previous admission of guilt fines he has paid for various crimes


Magistrate is asking the Prosecutor if any of the charges against the accused will be withdrawn due to the death of one of the witnesses. She says no charges will be withdrawn because of this death.


Magistrate is asking what the Prosecutors argument is regarding the fact that the majority of the co accused have been released.


She is arguing that each individual has to be taken individually. This specific accused has more thank 200 charges against him whereas the others have fewer charges and some not as serious. Each accused has to be looked at individually.


Wilkinson for instance has only been charged with 13 charges and RAS with 284. Ras has been directly involved himself with poachings as well


Defense attorney is arguing that there is not a strong case against the accused. Why did they leave him free if in 2011 they already had more than 100 charges against him and let him continue to kill 28 more rhinos. He says it is because they had no case until they got their section 204 witnesses


the Prosecutor says that there were other cases and charges against other accused that they had to consider when deciding on when the arrests would be made


magistrate is finished asking questions.


Case will be postponed to the 27th for his decision.


Court adjourned.

[Richprins]

Thanks very much, Moggie!


The accused's previous convictions were a long time ago

With previous convictions, you must stay out of trouble! That is why you don't get bail!

[Moggiedog]

Hugo Ras Bail hearing


BAIL DENIED

Reports from the courts - via Allison Thompson OSCAP FB Page:

Court is in session


Allison Thomson Magistrate going through Ras's criminal history
3 hrs · Like · 2

Allison Thomson Magistrate is going through the points as set out in Ras's Affidavit in support of him getting bail
3 hrs · Like · 1

Allison Thomson Magistrate going through the history of poaching in SA giving stats etc as set out in investigating Officer Jooste's affidavit
3 hrs · Like · 1

Allison Thomson the value of the hornsinvolved is R16m
3 hrs · Like · 1

Allison Thomson Magistrate is referring to online petitions and the burning of horns in the Czech Republic. This is all in Jooste's affidavit
2 hrs · Like · 2

Allison Thomson magistrate is referring to the documents that OSCAP submitted regarding the Global March for Elephants and Rhinos
2 hrs · Like · 3

Allison Thomson referring to the requests that were made at the march March to have e laws changed regarding bail etc. also referring to the letter that I submitted which was signedby other Rhino groups
2 hrs · Like · 3

Allison Thomson magistrate is talking about the fact that the accused was found to have 3 cell phones in his possession in jail whilst awaiting bail
2 hrs · Like · 1

Allison Thomson magistrate is finished summing up the Affidavits
2 hrs · Like

Allison Thomson magistrate explaining the legal requirements that have to be taken into account when deciding on bail. Quoting precedents
2 hrs · Like · 1

Allison Thomson Magistrate is referring to the fact that the accused is already out on bail on other pending cases. Says he will come back to this issue
2 hrs · Like · 1

Allison Thomson accused has had 19 previous residential addresses and shows his nomadic lifestyle
2 hrs · Like · 1

Allison Thomson Ras has no fixed assets registered in his name
2 hrs · Like · 1

Allison Thomson Ras was involved directly in 9 of the 12 poaching incidents
2 hrs · Like · 2

Allison Thomson magistrate is going through the Supreme Court of Appeals judgement in granting co accused Wilkinsons bail
2 hrs · Edited · Like

Allison Thomson Accused has been found guilty of 20 Previous charges relating to contraventions of the conservation laws
2 hrs · Like · 1

Allison Thomson most of which he has paid admission of guilt fines
2 hrs · Like

Allison Thomson there are 2 pending cases one on the Pretoria North court for theft and illegal possession of a fire arm as well as one in the Potchestroom court
2 hrs · Like · 1

Allison Thomson appellant has a propnsity to commit crimes considering that he has committed crimes whilst having cases pending
2 hrs · Like · 1

Allison Thomson quoting from previous cases
2 hrs · Like

Allison Thomson accused has many contacts overseas.Reference is being made to precendents in this regard
2 hrs · Like · 1

Allison Thomson lack of travel documents is not a deterrent to skipping the country as documents can easily be obtained
2 hrs · Like · 2

Allison Thomson it is not difficult to even disappear within SA
2 hrs · Edited · Like · 1

Allison Thomson Charges have already been laid against the accused by witnesses for intimidation
2 hrs · Like · 1

Allison Thomson obviously this information is being read from the states affidavits etc. the case is being heard in Afrikaans so I have to try and translate as we go along. Hope that i am translating correctly and not misquoting.
2 hrs · Like · 3

Allison Thomson Rhino poaching is a priority crime.
2 hrs · Like · 2

Allison Thomson each bail application has to be done on an individual basis and bail shouldnot be granted just because he other members of the syndicate got bail. Some of the witnesses have expressed their fear
2 hrs · Like · 2

Allison Thomson Ras had as many as 8 different cellphone numbers
2 hrs · Like · 2

Allison Thomson there were 227 contacts in the cellphones that he was found with in jail. He also had Internet access with these phonesand access to an email address
2 hrs · Like · 2

Allison Thomson it is alleged that in previous bail applications he supplied incorrect information
2 hrs · Like · 2

Allison Thomson Reference is being made to threats on facebook about the safety of the accused shouldhe be released
2 hrs · Like

Allison Thomson Magistrate is making reference to bail applications in previous rhino poaching court cases
2 hrs · Like · 2

Allison Thomson bail denied

[Flutterby]

Thanks MD!

[Lisbeth]

Moggiedog

[Richprins]

Thanks, Moggie and Allison!