A Ugandan court on Friday in Kampala sentenced a man to life in prison after he was found guilty of illegal possession of ivory, a wildlife regulation authority said.
Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) said Pascal Ochiba was found guilty of possession of two pieces of ivory weighing 9.5 kilogrammes without a wildlife use right.
Offences of unlawful possession of protected species are rampant and there is a need to curb them, UWA quoted Chief Magistrate of the Standards, Utilities and Wildlife Court, Gladys Kamasanyu, as saying.
Kamasanyu said Ochiba was a habitual offender, having been charged in 2017 with two counts of unlawful possession of protected species and charged by the same court.
She said Ochiba deserved a sentence that will contribute to making the world a safer place for wildlife and humans.
UWA described the sentence as a landmark achievement in the fight against illegal wildlife trade.
In April last year, a court in Uganda also charged two police officers over the illegal possession of elephant tusks, weighing 23 kilogrammes.
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