Hunting community ‘attacks right to freedom of speech’ – BirdLife

Two readers on online news portal TimesofMalta have landed in hot water after being accused by hunters' lobby FKNK of making "defamatory" comments - two years after the authors in question condemned hunters of "breaking the law."

Despite being legally responsible for the newspaper, the editor, is however, not being accused of any criminal misdemeanours. Instead, following their disclosure, the authors of the two comments are being accused of defamation by the hunters federation.

The two comments were posted in 2012 in response to the joint operation of the Committee against Bird Slaughter and the Police of the employment of a radio-controlled plane to uncover illegal trapping. The comments stated:

"Our police is greatly outnumbered by hunters. It is impossible to keep up. I do not agree with invasion of privacy but if hunters are breaking the law over and over again what do we expect? If an area is prone to illegal activities it is going to be surveyed by CCTV cameras and so on like Paceville."

"Being Maltese and proud of it means preventing criminals, not encouraging them. FKNK has exposed itself as nothing more than a front for people who want to break the law and get away with it. The only people who have any objection to this monitoring are those who want to break the law."

Following the FKNK's threat of criminal proceedings against the authors, environmental NGO BirdLife Malta has accused the hunters' lobby of "curtailing and attacking" people's right to freedom of speech, saying it is a familiar attempt for the hunting community to prevent Maltese people from enjoying their rights.

"The hunting community already prevents Maltese people from enjoying the countryside through their illegal occupation of public land. They have already expanded their efforts to bully and harass the people of Malta by trying to prevent a referendum to abolish spring hunting and now to add salt to the wound they are attacking people's fundamental right to freedom of speech too," Steve Micklewright, Executive Director of BirdLife Malta said.

In light of reports that police have received at least nine complaints from the FKNK against individuals, Micklewright argued that it is "deeply worrying that the police are spending their time investigating these complaints when they are unable to control acts of illegal hunters."

"We call on the people of Malta to show their contempt for the hunting community's latest attempt to harass and bully people by signing the petition for a referendum to abolish spring hunting," Micklewright argued.