New Zealand Herald: Česká dvojice v "orchidejovém případě" byla propuštěna na kauci
23.1.2004 | MANUKAU | New Zealand Herald | Patrick Gower |
New Zealand Herald informuje o dalším vývoji kauzy dvou Čechů, obviněných na Novém Zélandu z pašování orchidejí.
A professor of medicine and an orchid enthusiast, both from the Czech Republic, are the first people to be accused of stealing orchids in New Zealand. Cestmir Cihalik and Jindrich Smitak appeared in the Manukau District Court yesterday.
They are alleged to have smuggled numerous protected native orchids and other plant species out of New Zealand in the past month. The pair were arrested on Sunday by the Wildlife Enforcement Group, a multi-agency team responsible for investigating the smuggling of plants and animals.
Cihalik, 54, was wearing tramping boots and Smitak, 60, sandals with socks. They did not enter a plea and were released on bail to appear again next week. The men left the court without comment and were directed to a car by a court security guard.
The Herald has learned that Cihalik is dean of the medicine school at the 430-year-old Palacky University in Olomouc. Olomouc dates back to medieval times and is known for the ruins of an old royal palace, seven baroque fountains and St Wenceslaus Cathedral with its tower of nearly 100m.
Cihalik is a cardiologist specialising in the electrophysiological activity of the heart. He is the author of an extensive electrocardiogram atlas. He is married to a researcher of botanical genetics. His two adult sons are art historians involved in the conservation of cultural monuments.
Smitak is a public servant from Brno, 78km southeast of Olomouc.There he is the chairman of the Society of Tropical Orchid Growers and of the Friends of European Wild Orchids. The pair have surrendered their passports as part of their bail conditions. They were assisted in court yesterday by one of the three Czech translators in Auckland.
It is not known where Cihalik and Smitak are staying or what support they are receiving from the Czech community. The honorary Czech consul, Auckland lawyer Greg Shanahan, could not be reached for comment.
The pursuit of orchids is a centuries-old international phenomenon known as Orchidelirium and popularised in the movie Adaptation and the best-selling book The Orchid Thief.
There have been several cases of orchid smuggling around the world.
Motivations may be financial (orchids can fetch up to $25,000 on the black market) or simply to feed the desire of collectors to own rare specimens.
The presence of Northern Hemisphere enthusiasts in the Southern Hemisphere has also been causing tension in the global orchid-hunting community.
New Zealand orchid-hunters contacted yesterday said they disliked the way European "armchair botanists" came looking for unidentified specimens because there was nothing left to discover in Europe.
A Polish scientist who has allegedly never set foot in Australia sparked uproar there by renaming dozens of native orchids.
Dariusz Szlachetko, who was branded a botanical "terrorist" in Australia last year and accused of sparking an "international orchid-hunting race", is understood to have also made advances to New Zealand orchid-hunters in the past 18 months in his bid to find "new" species.
* In response to Herald queries yesterday, the Ministry of Justice said its security officer had been asked to help Cihalik and Smitak leave the court by their lawyer, Colleen Newton, and "had a duty to assist all members of the public attending court".
Ms Newton could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The charges
* Cestmir Cihalik and Jindrich Smitak both charged with trading in specimens of a threatened species.
* Maximum penalty for offence under Endangered Species Act 1989 is three years' jail and/or $50,000 fine.
* Smitak also faces three charges of removing plants from Fiordland, Mt Aspiring and Nelson Lakes national parks without authority.
* Maximum penalty for each of those offences under the National Parks Act 1980 is three months' jail and/or a $2500 fine.
reklama
They are alleged to have smuggled numerous protected native orchids and other plant species out of New Zealand in the past month. The pair were arrested on Sunday by the Wildlife Enforcement Group, a multi-agency team responsible for investigating the smuggling of plants and animals.
Cihalik, 54, was wearing tramping boots and Smitak, 60, sandals with socks. They did not enter a plea and were released on bail to appear again next week. The men left the court without comment and were directed to a car by a court security guard.
The Herald has learned that Cihalik is dean of the medicine school at the 430-year-old Palacky University in Olomouc. Olomouc dates back to medieval times and is known for the ruins of an old royal palace, seven baroque fountains and St Wenceslaus Cathedral with its tower of nearly 100m.
Cihalik is a cardiologist specialising in the electrophysiological activity of the heart. He is the author of an extensive electrocardiogram atlas. He is married to a researcher of botanical genetics. His two adult sons are art historians involved in the conservation of cultural monuments.
Smitak is a public servant from Brno, 78km southeast of Olomouc.There he is the chairman of the Society of Tropical Orchid Growers and of the Friends of European Wild Orchids. The pair have surrendered their passports as part of their bail conditions. They were assisted in court yesterday by one of the three Czech translators in Auckland.
It is not known where Cihalik and Smitak are staying or what support they are receiving from the Czech community. The honorary Czech consul, Auckland lawyer Greg Shanahan, could not be reached for comment.
The pursuit of orchids is a centuries-old international phenomenon known as Orchidelirium and popularised in the movie Adaptation and the best-selling book The Orchid Thief.
There have been several cases of orchid smuggling around the world.
Motivations may be financial (orchids can fetch up to $25,000 on the black market) or simply to feed the desire of collectors to own rare specimens.
The presence of Northern Hemisphere enthusiasts in the Southern Hemisphere has also been causing tension in the global orchid-hunting community.
New Zealand orchid-hunters contacted yesterday said they disliked the way European "armchair botanists" came looking for unidentified specimens because there was nothing left to discover in Europe.
A Polish scientist who has allegedly never set foot in Australia sparked uproar there by renaming dozens of native orchids.
Dariusz Szlachetko, who was branded a botanical "terrorist" in Australia last year and accused of sparking an "international orchid-hunting race", is understood to have also made advances to New Zealand orchid-hunters in the past 18 months in his bid to find "new" species.
* In response to Herald queries yesterday, the Ministry of Justice said its security officer had been asked to help Cihalik and Smitak leave the court by their lawyer, Colleen Newton, and "had a duty to assist all members of the public attending court".
Ms Newton could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The charges
* Cestmir Cihalik and Jindrich Smitak both charged with trading in specimens of a threatened species.
* Maximum penalty for offence under Endangered Species Act 1989 is three years' jail and/or $50,000 fine.
* Smitak also faces three charges of removing plants from Fiordland, Mt Aspiring and Nelson Lakes national parks without authority.
* Maximum penalty for each of those offences under the National Parks Act 1980 is three months' jail and/or a $2500 fine.
reklama
Online diskuse
Redakce Ekolistu vítá čtenářské názory, komentáře a postřehy. Tím, že zde publikujete svůj příspěvek, se ale zároveň zavazujete dodržovat pravidla diskuse. V případě porušení si redakce vyhrazuje právo smazat diskusní příspěvěk
