The Court of Appeal will next month determine an appeal lodged by two foreign nationals, Zhao Hanquing and Hsu Chin Tai, opposing the verdict passed against them for illegal fishing in Tanzania’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
In the appeal, the two convicts, Hanquing, a Chinese national, and Tai from Taiwan, are asking the appeals court to quash their conviction on two offences and set aside the sentence of ten years’ imprisonment or fine of 21bn/- imposed against them by High Court Judge Augustine Mwarija on February 23, 2012.
A panel comprising Justices Salum Massati, William Mandia and Semistocles Kaijage will first hear the appeal in question on February 4, this year.
The two convicts are defended by advocates John Mapinduzi and Capt. Ibrahim Bendera, who is believed to be an expert in marine service laws.
The two were convicted in the trial, famously known as the Magufuli fish case, of unlawful fishing in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Tanzania and sentenced to pay a fine of 1bn/- each or go to jail for ten years in default. Tai was convicted of another separate offence of water pollution and degradation of marine environment.
He was sentenced to pay a fine of 20bn/- or imprisoned for 10 years upon failure to pay the fine in question. Both the appellants were unable to pay the fine.
During the trial, the prosecution had alleged that on diverse dates between January 10 and March 8, 2009, while on board a vessel named Number 68 Buyoung, alias Tawariq-1, alias Tawariq-2, the accused jointly carried out fishing activities in the EEZ of Tanzania without a licence.
The court was told further that within the same period, the accused polluted the environment of Tanzania’s EEZ by throwing offal and other fish waste and also by discharging oils in the water.
In proving the case, the prosecution had summoned 13 witnesses. The two convicts were charged alongside 35 others, some of whom died before conclusion of the trial, while others were acquitted by the trial court for lack of evidence.
When sentencing the two the trial judge took into consideration the circumstances in which the offences were committed and, in addition to the sentences, also ordered confiscation of the ship used in the illegal fishing.
