The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Anti-Corruption Court has granted bail to two Vietnamese accused of wildlife trafficking.
They are Nguyen Son Dong, 40 the Director of Wisdom Theta Limited and Pham Van Chieu 33 a resident of Ntinda a Kampala Suburb.
They are jointly charged with Phung Thi Lien aged 35 a resident of Mackenzie View Suites in Kololo.
It is alleged that the suspects and four others who are still on run on Jan, 24th, 2019 at Namboole were found in possession of Pangolin scales and 262 pieces of ivory weighing 3,299 Kilograms valued at 8.7 billion Uganda Shillings.
The suspects appeared in court on Thursday presided by Grade One Magistrate Sarah Namusobya Mutebi.
Their lawyer Steven Mwanje asked the Magistrate to release the suspects on bail arguing that it’s their constitutional right.
The State prosecutor Hilda Bakanansa first objected to the bail application saying that if the suspects were formally employed, their bosses could have been in court to stand surety for them. Bakanansa added that they could be the suspects who are currently on run.
Namusobya later granted them bail of 15 million shillings each and the sureties were bonded at 50 million non-cash.
The suspects were also told to deposit their passports and ordered to report to court every fortnight.
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