In Tanzania, eleven people have been sentenced to death for the murder of South African anti-poaching activist Wayne Lotter in 2017.
The verdict, handed down more than five years after Wayne Lotter was shot during a taxi ride in the Masaki district of Dar es Salaam, has been described as a significant victory in the fight against wildlife poaching in the East African country.
Key figure in the fight against the ivory trade
Lotter was co-founder of the Pams Foundation, a non-profit organisation that supports anti-poaching initiatives across Africa by providing communities and governments with expertise and assistance.
At the time of his death, he was a leading conservationist and a central figure in the fight against poaching in East Africa, partly responsible for some of the largest ivory seizures in the history of the continent.
Yang, referred to as the “Ivory Queen,” is serving a 15-year prison sentence for trafficking 860 elephant tusks worth more than 6 million US dollars.
Between 2009 and 2014, ivory poachers decimated Tanzania's elephant population by more than 60 percent.
3’000 poachers arrested since 2012
Prior to his murder, Lotter had received several death threats due to the work he and his organisation were doing, according to the Pams Foundation.
Since 2012, the NTSCIU has arrested almost 3’000 poachers and ivory traders, who in more than 90 percent of cases were sentenced to prison terms.
Investigators spent years building their cases against the 11 individuals convicted of Mr Lotter's murder, including the two gunmen and nine accomplices.
"It really feels like we have finally reached the milestone we have been working towards for so long," said Krissie Clark, Executive Director of the Pams Foundation, who co-founded the organisation with Mr Lotter. "It is a wonderful feeling to be able to close this chapter."
«Well-planned, coordinated murder»
Although the 11 were sentenced to death, this is equivalent to a life sentence, as Tanzania has not carried out an execution since 1995, according to the Pams Foundation.
It took half a decade for the case to wind its way through the Tanzanian justice system, with multiple attempts made to derail it, said Mary Rice, Executive Director of the Environmental Investigation Agency.
Ms Rice described the death of Mr Lotter as «well-planned» and a «coordinated murder».
«Someone who felt threatened by the success of Wayne and Krissie’s efforts to tackle the organised poaching and ivory trade networks that had operated out of Tanzania for so long. Someone with influence, protection and financial backing.»
She commended the Tanzanian government highly for seeing the case through to conclusion.
«The fact that Tanzania recognised this and ensured that the case was properly prosecuted is a positive step in the fight against the corruption that plays a role in so many similar cases,» she told The National.
Ms Clark, who was in the car with Mr Lotter when he was murdered, said the past five years had been «challenging» and that she was looking forward to «moving on» and continuing Mr Lotter’s life’s work.
«He was an incredible person with dedication, passion and integrity,» she told The National. «If everyone could work with the same passion, dedication and determination as he did, this world would be an incredible place.»
In her sentencing remarks, Judge Edith Mgonya said: «Wayne’s death has affected not only his family, his foundation and his friends, but also Tanzania as a destination and the world at large.»
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