Malaysia Sentences 4 Years In Prison For Vietnamese Citizens Collection 54 Parts Of The Body Of A Leopard

JAKARTA - The Malaysian court accepted the request for a cancellation of the appeal by re-determining a 4-year prison sentence for the convict Nguyen Van Tien, a Vietnamese citizen who was proven to have collected parts of the leopard or Panthera pardus body.

The panel of judges at the Malaysian Court of Appeal canceled the decision of the Temerloh High Court which previously cut the sentence of two years in prison for Tien.

Chief Justice Hashim Hamzah said the court was taking violations related to wildlife seriously.

"Therefore, the sentence handed down by the High Court was canceled, and the four-year prison sentence handed down by the District Court was recovered, effective from the date of arrest," he said, Friday, July 11, quoted from Bernama.

A fine of RM 300,000 imposed by the High Court still applies to the convict Tien.

On February 24, 2024, Tien, 34, pleaded guilty at the District Court on charges of keeping parts of the leopard's body protected without special permission at Pahang National Park.

He was charged under Article 68(1) (b) of the 2010 Wildlife Conservation Act and sentenced under Article 68(92)(c) of the same law.

In October 2024, the High Court reduced the sentence to two years while still maintaining a fine if it did not serve a 12-month prison sentence.

In today's trial, Deputy Public Prosecutor Aznee Salmie Ahmad said a reduced sentence against the convict Tien could provide the wrong message, describing Malaysia as a soft jurisdiction for foreigners involved in cross-border wildlife crimes.