Hopefully justice will be served!
WANTED MAN ... After failing to appear in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court on a charge of illegal possession of two rhino horns last week, Chinese national Chen Nan (left) – here with his co-accused, Lu Yonghui – is now wanted by the police.
A CHINESE man who was arrested and charged after the police found two rhinoceros horns at a rented flat in Windhoek early this year is now a fugitive from justice, having failed to attend a scheduled court appearance last week.
With the 29-year-old Chen Nan absent from the Windhoek Magistrate's Court, where he was supposed to appear for the first time since being granted bail in April, magistrate Vanessa Stanley on Wednesday issued a warrant for his arrest, provisionally cancelled his bail and provisionally declared his bail deposit of N$300 000 forfeited to the state.
Unless Chen reports at the court in the meantime with an acceptable excuse for his absence last week, the money deposited to secure his release on bail would be finally forfeited to the state on 5 July.
Chen and a co-accused, Lu Yonghui (40), were each granted bail of N$300 000 on 4 April, after they had been kept in police custody for about two and a half months following their arrest on 19 January.
Lu was present in court as required on Wednesday, but he was alone in the dock.
Defence lawyer Kadhila Amoomo, who represented Chen during his bail hearing, said on Friday he had no information about the whereabouts of his former client. Chen was in Namibia on a short-term visitor's visa when he and Lu, who has been living in the country since 2001, were arrested on 19 January.
They were charged with illegal possession of controlled wildlife products after police officers allegedly found two rhino horns in the garage of a flat in Windhoek that was being rented by Lu.
During the bail hearing, Lu told magistrate Stanley that another Chinese man was actually living in the flat he was renting.
While the magistrate remarked in her ruling at the end of the bail hearing that it appeared there was a bigger risk of Chen, rather than Lu, absconding if released on bail, she also said the offence the two men were charged with was not likely to result in a sentence of direct imprisonment if they were to be convicted.
She also noted that bail was not supposed to be a means of punishment, but was merely intended to secure an accused person's presence at his eventual trial.
With the case again postponed last week, Lu's bail was extended, and he was told to appear in court again on 5 July.
Source: http://www.namibian.com.na/56069/read/Arrest-warrant-issued-in-rhino-horn-case
WANTED MAN ... After failing to appear in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court on a charge of illegal possession of two rhino horns last week, Chinese national Chen Nan (left) – here with his co-accused, Lu Yonghui – is now wanted by the police.
A CHINESE man who was arrested and charged after the police found two rhinoceros horns at a rented flat in Windhoek early this year is now a fugitive from justice, having failed to attend a scheduled court appearance last week.
With the 29-year-old Chen Nan absent from the Windhoek Magistrate's Court, where he was supposed to appear for the first time since being granted bail in April, magistrate Vanessa Stanley on Wednesday issued a warrant for his arrest, provisionally cancelled his bail and provisionally declared his bail deposit of N$300 000 forfeited to the state.
Unless Chen reports at the court in the meantime with an acceptable excuse for his absence last week, the money deposited to secure his release on bail would be finally forfeited to the state on 5 July.
Chen and a co-accused, Lu Yonghui (40), were each granted bail of N$300 000 on 4 April, after they had been kept in police custody for about two and a half months following their arrest on 19 January.
Lu was present in court as required on Wednesday, but he was alone in the dock.
Defence lawyer Kadhila Amoomo, who represented Chen during his bail hearing, said on Friday he had no information about the whereabouts of his former client. Chen was in Namibia on a short-term visitor's visa when he and Lu, who has been living in the country since 2001, were arrested on 19 January.
They were charged with illegal possession of controlled wildlife products after police officers allegedly found two rhino horns in the garage of a flat in Windhoek that was being rented by Lu.
During the bail hearing, Lu told magistrate Stanley that another Chinese man was actually living in the flat he was renting.
While the magistrate remarked in her ruling at the end of the bail hearing that it appeared there was a bigger risk of Chen, rather than Lu, absconding if released on bail, she also said the offence the two men were charged with was not likely to result in a sentence of direct imprisonment if they were to be convicted.
She also noted that bail was not supposed to be a means of punishment, but was merely intended to secure an accused person's presence at his eventual trial.
With the case again postponed last week, Lu's bail was extended, and he was told to appear in court again on 5 July.
Source: http://www.namibian.com.na/56069/read/Arrest-warrant-issued-in-rhino-horn-case
