Man sentenced to seven months in prison for illegal possession of portions of a protected wild animal.
By SHARON UDASINPorcupine 311(photo credit: Ruth Schueler)
The Haifa District Court sentenced a local man to seven months in prison for illegally possessing portions of a porcupine – a protected wild animal – the Israel Nature and Parks Authority announced on Sunday. The man, Remi Fahmawi is a known as a “serial porcupine hunter,” the INPA said in a statement.Fahmawi’s history with porcupine snatching dates as far back as 2009, when park inspectors first caught him carrying two suspicious sacks.One bag was filled with hundreds of porcupine spines and the other bore the contents of a porcupine stomach. Fahmawi was subsequently indicted for possession of these items.In February 2012 he was convicted of possession of a protected wild animal and fined NIS 10,000, but received no prison sentence. After an appeal by INPA, however, judges ordered that the imprisonment should occur, and Fahmawi will begin serving a jail sentence in another month, according to the INPA.“This is a major achievement in the struggle to preserve wildlife and in the struggle against criminals hunting and possessing protected wildlife without a permit,” a statement from the INPA said.
