The Beijing Fangshan District Court pronounced a judgment on the
largest case of illegal Saiga antelope horn dealing on May 12. The
three accused involved in this lawsuit were punished
accordingly.
The court took the case in March 2004, with hearings beginning
on March 30. The three suspects were accused of buying and
transporting Saiga antelope horn.
Saiga antelope is an endangered species under first-class state
protection. The dirty business involves 568 horns, with a total
value of 4.2 million yuan (US$500,000). It is the largest case of
its kind ever tried in Beijing.
Meng Xiangli was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment for his
crime of illegally selling and transporting Saiga antelope horns;
Liu Bin and Wang Zhijun who were directly involved in the case were
sentenced to six and five years of imprisonment respectively.
In early March last year, the factory manager of a
pharmaceutical company, Zhang, assigned two of his subordinates,
Liu Bin and Wang Zhijun, to go to Anguo City in Hebei
Province to ask Meng, their business partner, to pay the money
he owned to them. After negotiations, the two sides agreed that
Meng could use traditional Chinese medicine, including Saiga
antelope horns, to pay his debt. When Meng carried the horns in his
wagon and drove to Beijing, he was caught by police on the highway.
The court took over the case and began its investigation.
The prosecutor says that the pharmaceutical company, in addition
to the individual defendants, has violated the law for the
protection of endangered animals.
(China.org.cn by Wang Ruyue, May 13, 2004)