Defense witnesses implicate Bin Liu’s ‘father’ in MK10m wildlife crime case

Three of the six witnesses lined up in defense of Chinese national, Bin Liu, alleged in court that the ivory discovered at a house in Area 47 in Lilongwe, was actually left there by Liu’s ‘father and another Chinese man’, whose “current whereabouts are not known”.

Lawyers representing Liu, on Thursday, 8th June, 2023, finally paraded the first three witnesses, one year after the Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate Court found the Chinese with a case to answer over wildlife crime charges and illegally acquiring a firearm.

Court documents show, in part, that Liu is answering charges bordering on possession of ivory weighing 10.250 kilograms and valued at MK9.2 million, skull of Impala worth MK1.4 million and acquiring a firearm from another person without a permit in writing.

Liu was arrested in August 2021 after the police, accompanied by wildlife officials and sniffer dogs, conducted a search at his alleged house in Area 47 in Lilongwe—following a tip—and found the illegal items.

The first three defense witnesses that appeared before High Court Judge Patrick Chirwa, who is sitting as Chief Resident Magistrate, are Liu’s wife and her sister and a gardener.

The gardener, Ali Aman, told the court that, in February 2021, Liu’s ‘father and another Chinese man’, for whom he worked as a gardener at the house in Area 47, instructed him to dig a pit within the fence.

Liu’s ‘father and his colleague’ then buried a sack bag in the pit, whose contents Aman did not know. Later, according to Aman, the two instructed another man to plant a tree on the pit.

A sister to Liu’s wife told the court that Liu actually lives in Area 49, not in the house in Area 47.

However, Liu’s wife slightly contradicted Aman, saying it was actually her husband who instructed the planting of a tree on the pit.

After the court session, Joseph Chiume, one of Liu’s lawyers from Chiume and Company, appeared excited with the witnesses accounts, saying it is clear that Liu did not know anything about the ivory and Impala skull.

“It is also clear that our client does not live in the house in Area 47. Why was he arrested in the first place? He is suffering for the sins of someone else”.

On the other hand, a prosecutor from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Hannah Supply Kamange, said, so far, the defense witnesses accounts have not worked to disprove the offenses available.

“In fact, their contradictions and accounts based on hearsays, are a good sign to us, as the state. We are looking forward to hearing more of the defense witnesses and cross-examining them”.

Justice Chirwa has since ruled that the court should reconvene on 26th June, 2023, for continuation of hearing of defense.

The first two offences Liu is answering are against the National Parks and Wildlife Act of 2017. The third offence, on the other hand, is contrary to the Firearms Act.

Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :

Sharing is caring!

Follow us in Twitter
Read previous post:
Deffered PSLCE to be administered June end

The Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) says differed Primary School Leaving Certificate Examination (PSLCE) for the year 2023 will be...

Close