Gulou's First Case of Criminal Attached Civil Lawsuit for Wildlife Protection Opens in Court

Fuzhou News Network, November 27th (Fuzhou Daily Reporter) (Lai, Zhichang) Recently, Gulou District, the first case of criminal wildlife protection incidental civil public interest litigation case in court. The Gulou District Procuratorate to illegal acquisition, sale of precious and endangered wildlife crime on the case of the defendant Lin Mou public prosecution.

It is understood that, in May this year, Lin Mou through the network channels to buy a “sapphire” spider, and in a website to publish information for sale. In order to facilitate the transaction, Lin Mou will take the spider to a hotel in Gulou District, was seized by the City Public Security Bureau on the spot. The spider was found to be a live system sapphire ornamental rainforest bird spider (juvenile), a decorated bird spider genus, which is listed in Appendix II of the CITES Convention (2019 edition).

The prosecutors believe that the defendant Mr. Lin violated wildlife protection laws and regulations, without the approval of the competent state authorities, knowing that the “sapphire” spider is a precious and endangered wild animal under state protection, but still bought and sold it, and his behavior damaged wildlife populations, endangered the ecological environment, and caused damage to the public interest. We request that the defendant Mr. Lin be held criminally responsible, make a public apology to the public in the national media, and participate in relevant public welfare activities to protect the ecological environment.

The defendant, Mr. Lin, pleaded guilty in court to the criminal facts and charges brought by the prosecutors and to the public interest litigation. The case will be sentenced on another day.