Two Czech men have been told they must enter a plea when they next appear in court on charges of smuggling native New Zealand orchids.
The pair appeared briefly in the District Court at Manukau today and were remanded again on bail for one week without a plea.
Jindrich Smitak, 60, a public servant, from Brno, and Cestmir Cihalik, 54, a cardiologist, from Olomouc, each faced a charge of trading in specimens of a threatened species.
They were due to appear again next Thursday.
At today's appearance their lawyer, Colleen Newton, sought a further remand which was granted but the pair were told they would have to enter a plea next week and today's remand would be the final remand without a plea.
The maximum penalty for the offence is three years in jail and/or a $50,000 fine. Smitak also faces three counts of removing plants from Fiordland, Mt Aspiring and Nelson Lakes national parks without authority.
The maximum penalty for those offences are three months' prison and/or a $2500 fine.
Last week the pair was remanded after Ms Newton said she needed time to get access to prosecution documents.
The men were arrested on January 18 by the multi-agency Wildlife Enforcement Group, which includes Customs, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Conservations Department staff. The case is understood to be the first in New Zealand involving native orchids.
- NZPA
Alleged orchid smugglers make brief court appearance
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