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Network News Network News Cameroon: Italian director of logging company arrested with 3 baby chimps
Network News Network News Cameroon: Italian director of logging company arrested with 3 baby chimps
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Cameroon: Italian director of logging company arrested with 3 baby chimps |
 On Thursday 14 May 2009 a long term investigation led by The Last Great Ape Organization (LAGA) resulted in the successful arrest of an Italian director of a logging company for illegal detention of three chimps and other illegal wildlife trophies. Relentlessly fighting corruption, the foreign national is behind bars, and we monitor the prison cell every few hours to secure justice is served rather than bought out.“Early this year the director of the logging company was identified as a major client of protected species ordering chimps antelopes and other illegal trophies”, says Ofir Drori, director of LAGA. “For some time we have observed his activities. I do not know if he exported the animals.” The arrested Italian national is the director of the company SMK operating in Ngambe Tikar. It is a small company that processes timber and exports it. Note that for every chimp found in captivity 9 chimps are killed in the process to catch one chimpanzee (Dr. Jane Goodall estimation). While the chimps were younger than three years, the Italian claimed in his testimony that he has had the chimps since 1997. We assume his motive for lying under oath is his fear to be charged again for other chimps he has held in past years which either died or were traded. Corruption is observed in 85% of our cases. This case presents a higher risk for the accused to be freed. The powerful logging industry can "take care of itself" when it comes to bribing power. This is not the first time that a European logger is arrested on wildlife crime charges - last year a Greek manager of a logging company was arrested with two chimps. Curently he is free and we suspect corruption to be the reason why he is not now in jail. In another case against a logging company worker near Campo Maan National Park, the man was arrested and served 3 months as a wildlife criminal. I hope these anecdotes will serve as a wakeup call in the conference halls to show the huge gap between written promises and sweet words by the timber industry and the damage their activities create in reality. LAGA The Last Great Ape Organization Tel: +237-99651803 www.LAGA-enforcement.org |
