A provincial court sentenced Premchai Karnasuta, president of Thailand’s largest construction company Italian-Thai Development (ITD) Pcl, for possession of a firearm without a permit, enabling poaching and possession of a Kalij pheasant carcass, a protected animal. Kanchanaburi -A Thai tycoon accused of poaching a black leopard at a wildlife sanctuary arrived in court Tuesday for the highly anticipated verdict -- a case that has fuelled outrage in a country fed up with impunity and corruption. Last year, wildlife officials found Premchai and three others in the Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary with carcasses of protected animals including a black Indochinese leopard near their jungle campsite. Charges of foraging in a wildlife sanctuary and possession of black leopard carcass were dropped. Premchai’s associates including a driver and a huntsman received sentences of up to three years and five months on firearm and poaching-related charges, including possession of a black leopard carcass.

Source: Dhaka Tribune March 19, 2019 06:33 UTC