Prime Minister confirms CABS had no permission to fly drone

Neither the Police nor Transport Malta gave CABS the permission to fly a drone over Malta to spy on hunters.

7 May 2012, 12:00am
by Miriam Dalli

1 min read

The model plane equipped with a camera used by CABS to monitor hunters. (Photo: Campaign Against Bird Slaughter)

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi this evening confirmed in parliament that the German-based Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) received no permission from either the Police or Transport Malta to fly a drone in a bid to spy on hunters.

Gonzi was replying to a question raised by Labour MP Charles Mangion. Mangion also asked whether any individuals or organisations can spy on individuals without the authorisation of the competent authorities.

The Prime Minister however cautioned that he could not comment on the matter, as a police investigation was ongoing. The incident, he said, is also being investigated by the Data Protection Commissioner.

Equipped with a miniature camera, the remote-controlled plane was flown over a number of localities in Malta. One of the gadgets used by the watchdog was reportedly shot down by hunters in the area of Zabbar.

Meanwhile, Opposition spokesman Michael Falzon has alleged the German-owned drone plane had the blessing of the Maltese authorities and alleged that it was allowed to fly over and land on private property in breach of the law.

An avid hunter, Falzon asked for explanations from the police, the civil aviation and customs departments as to how this drone entered and was used in Malta. Falzon said the authorities must make it clear whether the drone had the necessary permits and licences to enter the country and to be used.

Miriam Dalli joined MaltaToday.com.mt in 2010 becoming assistant editor f...

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Can the Prime Minister tell us what he's going to do about it? Is he going to let this go by as if nothing had happened ? Is he afraid that he might offend Mrs. Merkel if he take some kind of action against these arrogant persons who broke the law when they used this drone . Come on Mr.Prime Minister , show us that you do not only have strong hands, but also that you have balls .

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@better future. Why employ experts when CABS were doing it for free and supplying the technology that ALE can only dream about. Worth mentioning is that when the drone was being flown, police officials were present and made effective use of the video footage. The only people who were harassed were the trappers and their illegal trapping sites. If operating a drone is bordering on the illegality then the politicians of both parties are committing an even bigger crime because their lack of will to get to grips with this national embarrassment they are duty bound to prevent, is nothing short of criminal. While this government is putting pressure on the police commissioner to frustrate the sterling work of the ALE unit, the PL is lobbying with the Hunting fraternity to ‘buy’ their vote. One can play the human rights and foreign intrusion record over and over again but the hunting and trapping situation in Malta is just another ‘Maghtab’ whose stench has long permeated the corridors of our political Parties Head Quarters.

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If we are unable (manpower, machinery etc, etc ...) to safeguard our own backyards, I'd say why not employ the experts. OK, make it official by all means, but get them here!!

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One can argue the legality of the methodology but nobody can deny the reasons why the CABS need to revert to extreme methods to expose illegal hunting and trapping in Malta. One may feel piqued about an intrusion in their privacy but this situation also highlights the fact that our government is unable (or rather lacks the will ) to control this embarrassing situation in Malta. While the CABs were passing concrete evidence to ALE to make their job more effective, this is in stark contrast to corrupt politicians who are using the excuse of human rights to obstruct any law enforcement. The honourable Mr Falzon cannot just condemn foreign intrusion and brush aside the core of the problem in our own back yard. This is a prime example of dirty lobbying in its most disgusting form and, this, from a Party which is aspiring to power while preaching a more mature & progressive approach to politics. The tragedy is that we are not fooling anyone but ourselves, & certainly not other EU countries. The foreign press have already dubbed Malta as having the largest concentration of bird hunters in the world, a doubtful honour which the PL spokesperson himself has made a personal contribution.

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After the World Leader confirmed the illegality of this farce by the German owned drones, I am hopeing that JUSTICE is done with the culprits. I honestly hope that these drones weren't used for other spying purposes.

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@thinkahead- a crime shouldn't be solved by a law-breaking tool. The operation of a CCTV camera should be held within your own premises, with well visible warnings not a redbull print on it, and shouldn't be used by any means to spy on people. The drone was flying without any permissions from the police and the MIA control tower. This drone was controlled by a foreigner to capture videos/photos on whoever was in his private land regardless what they where doing. To be honest, I don't like to be captured while i'm in a private pool with my girl friend. Well this was something illegal, and it is against the law to get against the law my friend

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@Astrolux-boy Is the drone armed with cctv cammeras will help reduse criminality in the future? Should it be a felony, if someone try to break a cctv flying camera? Do we need such a sofisticated wepon against law breakers?

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thinkahead qed thallat il-hass mal-BA$$

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@ thinkahead: The drone (not drown) and cctv are two different things, one is fixed and stationary while he other can go anywhere. Besides when you own cctv you have to put a notice that can be seen by passersby which says that you have cctv and is recording. So these are nearly one thing but the drone is far more capable to moniter YOUR privicy while the cctv only protect the individual's building.

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If the drown is against the law,is cctv cameras against the law,they do the same thing,watch for law breakers,so who is realy breaking the law,the cameras or the law breakers?

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Hekk sewwa ! gew barranin juzaw 'Drone' - ajruplan zghir imhaddem bir-remote control, jispjuna fuq il-kaccaturi b'mod illegali, u dawn il-Germanizi HADD ma qallhom xejn u thallew jitilqu lura lejn pajjizhom minkejja li l-prim ministru qed jammetti li kisru l-ligi !!! PAR IDEJN SODI bhal dawn zgur qatt ma rajna !!!!