In a live-streamed trial on Feb 25, judges at the Intermediate People’s Court of Jiujiang in East China’s Jiangxi province upheld the ruling of a lower court that sentenced a man charged with illegally hunting endangered wildlife to eight months in prison plus a penalty of 5,000 yuan ($714).

The intermediate People’s Court of Jiujiang holds a live-streamed trial on Feb.25.[Photo/court.gov.cn]

The trial, which was live streamed by over 50 media outlets, attracted about 15.5 million online viewers.

During the first-instance trial, the people’s court of Wu’ning county noted that the county’s government launched a five-year county-wide wildlife hunting ban on Jul 28, 2018.

It found that between May 8 and May 15, 2019, Fang, the defendant, captured five snakes by hand which were all under the special protection of Jiangxi province and listed in the catalogue of state-protected terrestrial wild animals which are beneficial or of important economic or scientific value.

In addition, between May 6 and May 7, Fang also caught two cobras with a stick that were under that same protection and were further protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITS.

After discovering Fang’s wrongdoing, the local public security organ confiscated one of the snakes that was still alive and released it back to nature, according to the court.

The court noted that after being caught, Fang truthfully confessed all his crimes. He also told the police about the criminal conduct of another person surnamed Li who had covered up for him and concealed the prey, and assisted the police in catching Li.

The court held that the use of traps by defendant Fang, which is a prohibited hunting method, to capture wild animals was a fact serious enough to make his conduct constitute the crime of illegal hunting. In addition, because the cobras he caught are an endangered animal species, his conduct also constituted the crime of illegally hunting endangered wild animals.

The court also enumerated all the facts that could mitigate the punishment against him including his truthful confession of his crime, the release of one snake alive and his exposure of Li’s crime and assistance for the police in capturing Li.

Based on all these facts, the court sentenced Fang to eight months in prison plus 5,000 yuan in penalty on the charge of illegally hunting endangered wild animals and five months in criminal detention on the charge of illegal hunting.

After combining the punishments on the two charges, the court concluded the case by sentencing him to eight months in prison plus 5,000 yuan in penalty.

Fang appealed the case to the intermediate court on the ground that the punishment was too severe.

The intermediate court differed from the lower court on the charge of illegal hunting, reasoning that since the installation of the traps by Fang occurred one and a half years prior to the institution of the hunting ban and that he had captured fewer than 20 wild animals in total, Fang’s conduct should not be deemed serious under the interpretations of the Supreme People’s Court on destroying wild animal resources.

Therefore, the intermediate court revoked the charge of illegal hunting against Fang, but upheld the charge of illegal hunting endangered wild animals. As a result, the final sentencing for Fang was eight months in prison plus a fine of 5,000 yuan.