Two turtle poaching cases made their way to the courtroom of Chief Justice Vivekanand Allear on Monday October 13, but he will only hear one of them.

The chief justice deferred the sentencing of six men, who pleaded guilty to charges of turtle poaching in connection with an incident at Providence in February, to Justice Ranjan Perera.

The sentences were originally to be passed by Justice D. Karunakaran, who sent the case to the chief justice after indicating that he would not be able to make a fair decision on the terms of the sentence.

But Chief Justice Allear said that he had no interest in the case, and if Justice Perera agreed, the case would be passed on to him. The chief justice said that Justice Karunakaran did not confer with him before sending the case his way.

The new sentence hearing for the alleged poachers is scheduled for Friday afternoon (October 17).  Cases are ongoing for two other men who were arrested in connection with the same incident, but who pleaded not guilty.

Immediately after the chief justice deferred the case, six other men (not five, as was reported in Monday’s Nation), who were arrested early on Saturday October 11, on suspicion of turtle poaching, appeared briefly in a court mention. 

The prosecution said the name of the sixth individual was mistakenly left off police records submitted to the court, but there are in fact six who stand accused.

The men were arrested on a boat near Denis Island at 3.30 a.m. Saturday by a joint task force consisting of police, coast guard and Ministry of Environment personnel.  Police seized an estimated 100 kilograms of turtle meat on the boat, according to reports.

During the court mention, the prosecution made an application requesting that the boat involved in the case, described as a kind of schooner, be placed into the custody of the court.

The prosecution also requested that certain sensitive equipment, such as the boat’s GPS system, be removed from the vessel, which is currently docked at the Coast Guard’s premises.

Chief Justice Allear released the men from police custody on R5,000 bail each, but they are due to appear in court again on Tuesday October 14, when the decision on the boat, and also the possibility of setting a hearing date, will be determined.

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