BINGA — Thirty Zambian nationals were last Friday taken to court for alleged fish poaching and trespassing into the Zimbabwean side of the Zambezi River.
Ostin Siazala (28) and 29 other Zambians pleaded guilty to charges of entry by evasion and fish poaching when they appeared before Binga resident magistrate Stephen Ndlovu.
Their eight rigs were impounded by the State and are still held at the Binga National Parks and Wild Life Department premises.
The Zambians were ordered to pay $2 000 for each of their rigs to be released.
The court heard that on November 21, Siazala and 29 others crossed into Zimbabwe from Zambia at Chete National Park in Binga. They had eight rigs which they used to catch fish.
It is the State case that they were found poaching fish on the Zimbabwean side at around 10 pm, leading to their arrest.
Bruce Maphosa prosecuted.
