Ivory smuggler caught at Beijing airport gets 4 years in prison

A Beijing court has sentenced a man to four years in prison for attempting to smuggling ivory products into the country.

The defendant, identified only as Liu, was also fined 40,000 yuan ($6,000) after a hearing at Beijing No 4 Intermediate People's Court on Tuesday.

Police detained Liu at Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport on Feb 4 after being found in possession of 16 ivory products from the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.

Prosecutors said the items weighed a combined 8.82 kilograms and were worth more than 367,000 yuan.

"It was the first case in which we applied a new guideline on accelerating the judicial process and giving leniency to those who confess their crimes," according to the court, which said Liu had confessed on Feb 9.

The guideline was issued by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate late last year. It states that defendants who plead guilty and do not contest the sentence proposed by prosecutors can be fast-tracked and receive leniency.

"In the past, sentences in cases like Liu's were announced at a later date. This time, we were able to make it immediately after the hearing," the court said.