Chinese woman jailed for over two years for attempting to smuggle ivory in macadamia nut packaging
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| A Chinese woman, Chen Biemei, was jailed by a Kenyan court for 2 years and 7 months for attempting to smuggle ivory out of Kenya in this macadamia nut packets, August 2013. Photograph: WildlifeDirect |
In what was described as a victory for the Kenyan Public, a Chinese
woman, Chen Biemei, has been jailed by a Kenyan court for 2 years and 7
months for attempting to smuggle ivory out of the country.
"This is a win for the people of Kenya whose voices have been heard by the government and that it is serious about doing the right thing," said Richard Leakey, conservationist and the founder of the charity WildlifeDirect, on learning the news. He was referring to the fact that the conviction and sentence was allowed despite the fact that Kenya's president, Uhuru Kenyatta, is on his inaugural visit to China and many feared that the case would be politicized.
Arrested on 14 August, Chen was caught with an ingenious effort to smuggle ivory out of Kenya using clever packaging identical to a local brand of macadamia nuts.
"It
looked exactly like nuts except they were a little bigger, and were
just too heavy to be nuts," said a government official at the airport.
Chen
first pleaded innocent, and then did what most Chinese smugglers have
done before her, pleading guilty. The Kenyan court system rarely sends
people to jail for ivory smuggling crimes. But this time the magistrates
were on notice. The Kenya public have been increasingly angered over
the poaching epidemic that threatens the country's iconic elphants and
rhino.
WildlifeDirect launched a public awareness campaign
'hands off our elephants' with full page newspaper infomercials that
have been trending on Twitter. The campaign not only informs the general
public about the crisis facing elephants due to poaching, it directly
targeted the justice system to demand custodial sentences as allowed by
law.
Chen will be held in Langata Womens prison just a few
kilometers from the Chinese Embassy in Nairobi. Kenyan prisons are
notorious for the tough conditions and Kenyans are hoping that this
sentence has sent a strong message to other would-be smugglers and
poachers.
The Kenyan public have much to celebrate with this case, and still
greater expectations. The Wildlife Bill will be debated in Kenya from
September and once passed will provide for a minimal sentence of 15
years for ivory smuggling crimes, but Kenyans fear this is too lenient
and are hoping for life imprisonment for crimes which they believe
threaten their heritage, economy and future aspirations.
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