By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, May 22: A 60-year-old Indonesian was put behind bars for a month after she pleaded guilty in the Sessions Court today to possessing 135 turtle eggs.
Judge Mohd Taufik Mohd Yusoff ordered Asnawati Ahmad’s sentence to start from the date of her arrest.
The accused was found with 135 turtle eggs — which is totally protected under the Wild Life Protection Ordinance, 1998 — without permission at a car park near Pasar Serikin at about 9.40am on May 18, 2019.
Asnawati, who was unrepresented, was charged under Section 29(1) of the Wild Life Protection Ordinance and punishable under Section 29(1)(c) of the same Ordinance, which carries imprisonment of up to two years and a fine of up to RM25,000.
The accused, in her mitigation, pleaded for leniency as she has five children and that her youngest child is hospitalised. In addition, she herself suffered a minor stroke recently.
The eggs she was found with were brought in from Indonesia, and she was selling them at the Serikin weekend market for RM10 for 8 eggs. — DayakDaily
