APRIL 19, 2021 20:01
The Prosecutor’s Office adjourned the direct trial hearing against the police officer who sought to bring protected species from Galapagos to Guayaquil
Tortoises are protected species in Galapagos
The process against the police officer began on the morning of Sunday, April 18, 2021 in the Santa Cruz Judicial Unit, but it was adjourned that night. For this reason, Judge Ramón Abad decided to suspend the hearing and it is expected to continue on Monday, May 3.
The State Attorney General’s Office, through a statement on its website, detailed that “it seeks to determine responsibilities in the failed shipment of 185 baby turtles (2 to 12 months old) from Galapagos to Guayaquil” and that “16 died in an attempt to remove them from their habitat. ”
The smuggling attempt of the Chelonoidis species is considered a crime because the species corresponds to protected wildlife and “appears on the red list of threatened species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).”
The policeman is alleged to have participated with the transfer of the suitcases with the animals to the airport sector. Therefore, if the Prosecutor’s Office confirms his responsibility, he could receive a sentence of up to five years of deprivation of liberty. The trial that is developed against him is a direct proceeding, that is, it concentrates all the stages of the process into a single final trial hearing.
Read the original coverage from El Telegrafo at https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/actualidad/44/galapagos-especies-protegidas-juicio
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