Three turtle poachers; Musa Sillah; aka Musa Dewil Dawal, Batch Faye, and Sulayman Keita were today arraigned before the Kombo South District Tribunal in Gunjur. Particulars of offence were that; on the 19th October 2023 at around midnight, Musa Sillah was caught butchering a turtle around Halahin Beach in Kartong by the turtle monitoring team of Gunjur Environmentalists and Ecotourism Association (CETAG).
On the 9th December 2023, two members of CETAG received a tip-off that some Senegalese nationals were carrying a turtle into a shed and feared they might kill it. The CETAG agents rushed to the scene, on arrival at the scene, they found the turtle has already been killed. With the support of Gunjur Immigration personnel from Gunjur Beach, the suspects were arrested and taken to the Immigration Station, where their particulars were taken.
The case was transferred to the Parks and Wildlife team in Gunjur. On 12th of December 2023, the trio were summoned at the Kombo South District Trubunal in Gunjur, and the case was scheduled for hearing on Wednesday, 20th December 2023. At today's hearing, the particulars of the offence were read to the suspects and the penalties attached, asked if they agreed to the charges filed against them.
Musa Sillah immediately pleaded guilty, sighting ignorance of the offence. He was fined D1000 to be paid on the spot or face a jail term of three months. Musa's fine was paid by a member of CETAG on the condition that Musa will continue to collaborate and help CETAG in their conservation work. Since his arrest, Musa had been very remorseful and helpful to the work of CETAG.
For Batch and Mr Keita, initially they denied the charges but when pressed further they admitted to to all the charges filled against them which appeared to have angered the District Chief. The duo were subsequently fined a sum of D2000 each to be paid on the spot or face two year jail terms. They paid their fines and were warned about their future conduct. After the trial, Batch and Keita were very remorseful and promised CETAG members that they will from now on help the team in their work.
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