A man in his 50s in western Sweden was today sentenced to one year and four months in prison for a serious species protection violation and smuggling, after for several years having advertised and sold skins, claws and feathers from protected animals.
District Attorney Christer Jarlås, at the National Unit for Environmental and Work Environment Cases, is satisfied with the verdict and believes that it will be an aid in the investigation of similar crimes in the future.
– From this verdict, you can get quite a lot of guidance on how to look at this, you could not before, says chamber prosecutor Christer Jarlås.
The police opened their eyes for the now convicted man already in 2016. It was police in the UK who discovered a picture on Facebook where the man was holding a dead golden eagle. When the man’s temporary home was searched, several animal parts from various protected animals were found.
What he is now convicted of concerns the advertising and sale of parts from protected animals both before 2016 and after. In total, there are 200 ads, in various Facebook groups, about wolfskins, claws from black bears and feathers from sea eagles.
Christer Nilsson, chef for the head of investigation at the police’s National Operations Department, who held the investigation says that the police have, among other things, requested legal aid from the US to get information from Facebook to be able to map the sale, that it was now approved as evidence by the district court
– That you can prove to each of these that it is a serious species protection violation, and the court makes an overall assessment of the sanction so you can say that the court approves the prosecutor’s and the police’s way of producing evidence regarding that part, says Christer Nilsson, Head of Investigation Noa.
Trade with this the type of goods is strictly regulated and requires a permit, but the man now convicted has not had one.
He has always denied any wrongdoing and has given various explanations, such as that the objects have not been genuine and that other people have placed advertisements in his name.
The man tells P4 Gothenburg that he wants to appeal the verdict.