3 charged in Tawau over pygmy elephant tusks

TAWAU: Three men who are already serving a jail term were yesterday charged at the Sessions Court here with possessing or conspiring to possess two protected Borneo pygmy elephant tusks. Paranchoi Nordin, 59, Abdullah Simin, 68, and Martin Alok, 44 pleaded not guilty after the charge was read before judge Awang Krishnada Awang Mahmud. The men were charged under Section 41(1) of the Wildlife Protection Enactment 1997 and could be punished under Section 41(4)(a) of the same enactment and read with Section 34 of the Penal Code. If convicted, they face a fine not less than RM50,000 and not more than RM250,000 and imprisonment of not less than one year and not more than five years. The court…