Christian Peregin
Video captures violent attack on BirdLife volunteers in Dingli
A screen-shot of a video, issued by Birdlife, showing a man attacking one of its volunteers.
Wielding shotguns, dressed in camouflage and walking through fields, several hunters were caught on camera last week, ahead of the open season, by BirdLife volunteers who were subjected to violent attacks and threats.
But one clip released to the press stood out from the rest - where BirdLife volunteer Paul Debono and an Italian birdwatcher could be seen in Dingli being threatened, pushed and kicked by two men in a field last Sunday.
"Get out of here. I will kill you, go in (sic) your country," the men are heard shouting to the birdwatchers.
Mr Debono says there was nothing to suggest the land they were on was private and the aggressors appeared out of nowhere in a pick-up truck and started attacking immediately.
Speaking during a press conference yesterday, Mr Debono said their camera, which recorded the incident, was taken by the hunters and all the data was erased.
However, the hunters apparently deposited it at a police station where it was given back to Birdlife and the data was retrieved using "special software".
It will now be sent back to the police as evidence and a report will be filed. But Birdlife claims this is just one of many incidents in which its volunteers were attacked and no one was brought to justice.
President of BirdLife Joseph Mangion explained that over the past week, the NGO's volunteers noted 744 shots being fired as well as 474 "illegalities".
He said the true scale of illegal hunting could not be known since BirdLife could not cover the whole of the islands during its spring watch.
The six-day hunting season, set to open on Saturday, would make the rampant and blatant illegal hunting even more impossible to supervise and take action on, especially due to an under resourced police force, he added.
Mr Mangion explained that while those who hunted illegally could walk around with impunity, Birdlife volunteers were being targeted, their property vandalised and xenophobic threats left for them.
He accused the government of lacking the political will to invest in law enforcement rather than appeasing the "aggressive hunting lobby".
Last Saturday, he said, a car being used by a BirdLife volunteer had its windscreen blown off by a shotgun. The incident happened in front of the Manikata church only 20 metres away from a children's playground.
Meanwhile, death threats and hate messages were spray painted with words such as "You are going to pay for this".
Mr Mangion denied that volunteers had provoked hunters, an accusation made this week by the hunters' federation.
Meanwhile, UK police officer Steve Downing criticised the law enforcement situation in Malta, saying that it had deteriorated over the past three years and would not improve unless the government beefed up the police force. He said that most of the time when an active crime was being reported, the police arrived too late or not at all.
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16 Comments
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Chris Finch
Apr 22nd 2010, 09:34
So the European Commission has spoken. It said the 3 week season is unacceptable. The 6 day one is ok as long as it is respected.
The hunters have truly shot themselves in the foot this year. Not only do they go out hunting outside of the 6 day period, they refuse to condemn acts of criminal violence or call for the perpetrators to be kicked out of their clubs or to even be prosecuted.
Surely 2010 will be the last time the government (labour or PN) opens the spring hunting season - even for 6 days.
MSciberras
Apr 21st 2010, 14:47
@Mark Mifsud Bonnici
I know our beautiful countryside well and you know as well as I do that RTO and private property signs are liberally painted all over the place. Often they do not denote private property but trappers' hides planted on public land. Mtahleb is especially notorious. In other areas, such as the land under the cliffs beyond the Red Tower, the foreshore is practically inaccessible because of 'private property' signs. There are other places: for years the entire foreshore at Gnejna Bay was inaccessible, though I believe this has been recently resolved. On the cliffs beyond the Red Tower, one stone room has been transformed - by people who are hunters and trappers - into a small bungalow within its own fenced-in enclosure and shielded from the main road by trees planted for that purpose. I am glad to note you are such an expert on the law to the extent that you consider us lesser mortals as fools, perhaps you may wish to share your legal knowledge somewhat less selectively in the future. Sure common sense must prevail. Common sense to most Maltese trappers is being allowed to act as they please.. and you know that too.
J Azzopardi
Apr 21st 2010, 14:17
Clearly the Commissioner of Police has a problem. Notwithstanding how understaffed the environment law enforcement unit may be it is impossible that they are unable to act on none of the illegalities being perpetrated in the countryside. I frequent the countryside daily and rampant abuse is the be seen everywhere. The Commissioner of Police should issue a statement illustrating my people under his responsibility who are being paid with our tax money are so completely inefficient. This state of anarchy has been allowed to go on for far to long.
Anthony Formosa
Apr 21st 2010, 13:39
For those speaking about violence, which for me the men were protecting their property, just ask the St Julians police station about how many fights occur in Paceville, because either they are dead drunk or about some girls, or about skin colour. Such fights even lead to death and to my amazement only very few cases are reported not to tarnish the business.
All this sensationalism is because a hunter/ farmer is involved and a birdlife/CABS member, which the latter are trained for confrontation.
Watch very nice tourist attraction:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQT_b7Xl5wE
@ John Zarb, tal-parir mur ghix fuq Filfla, ghax ma tafx x'jigri barra. Jekk ghandek xaghrek iswed tmurx il-Germanja ghax joqtluk.
J.Borg, When are you goind to buy your piece and let anyone to enjoy it? It seems that you never went out on Sundays to watch what goes on, ignoring all signs, making BBQs and playing ball.
John Mercieca
Apr 21st 2010, 17:48
This subject of aggression on the part of hunters can be very much understood when one reads comments such as yours. Just because in some way or other you 'own' a piece of land does not give you ANY right whatsoever to resort to violence - you have no right to attack anyone and if this is your way of arguing, then, once again I have to spell it out to you that your place is not amongst civil society. But then, that is a forgone conclusion, isn't it?
G Vella
Apr 21st 2010, 13:02
The video clip of these thugs in action is on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJtq1hg_qWM
MARK MIFSUD BONNICI
Apr 21st 2010, 11:48
J Borg
"walking in an uncultivated field, with no Private signs, and doing no harm? "
Is this your idea of walking in the countryside?
For the information of fools:
Uncultivated fields do not make such fields public property and any "harm" is calculated by the landowner not by you.
In the same way I do not need to put up a private property on the facade of my house, why should I put one up on my fields?
The only reason I can think of, is to stop the few idiots who purport to have a right to the countryside and wish for hunters to be sectioned to a "part of the island' from keeping out.
Most people tend to use common sense and their intelligence, but it seems both are lacking in the case of J.Borg.
Why not ask your brother in law to see if such a measure is legally necessary?
To save you the trouble - IT IS NOT.
Carmelo Aquilina
Apr 21st 2010, 12:14
Mr Mifsud Bonnici in my opinion you talk bollocks quite a lot of the time but that does not give me the right to use violence onyou with the excuse of provocation - this was used in the 1980s without making any excuses for it, otherwise you become an accomplice to these thugs. The video is shocking and nauseating.
J. Borg
Apr 21st 2010, 13:02
MMB
Showing your true colours it seems
Excusing or worse still Justifying such vile and violent behavior with hollow arguments
And you pretend that you and your federations become credible enough to self regulate?!
Adrian Cardona
Apr 21st 2010, 16:45
Instead of doing yourself and your movement a favour and distancing yourself from these vicious thugs, you go and put your foot in it once again, and prove to us all that birds (excuse the unfortunate expression) of a feather really do flock together.
John Zarb
Apr 21st 2010, 10:58
Jekk veru li dan delizzju Malti u dawn in-nies jirraprezentaw is-socjeta' Maltija jiena ser inqatta l-Passaport u c-Certifikat tat-Twelid u nfittex azil go pajjiz civilizzat. Ghax nisthi minni nnifsi li nghid li nigi mill-istess pajjiz ta' din il-kultura u ta' dawn in-nies.
Anthony Formosa
Apr 21st 2010, 13:50
Dan x'tip ta delizzju hu sur Zarb?????
MARK MIFSUD BONNICI
Apr 21st 2010, 10:43
A wildlife crime unit and the beefing up of the police force in order to control all sorts of abuse in the countryside are measures that are also being suggested by the hunters. Hunters are also proposing that their license fees be used to part subsidize these measures.
Controlling bird crime and any trespassing or damage to private property would be the main functions of these proposals. As things stand, both these illegal activities are inadequately controlled with the resulting unacceptable results.
P. Farrugia
Apr 21st 2010, 10:11
How is it we always get ambiguous news? Were they in a field or not in a field? This article states that this happened in a field, others do not state the same. If it was in a field, then I guess all should agree that it was private property and Birdlife should not have got in even if there was not "Private" sign. I am sure they are not stupid and know where is private or not. If it was private, then this was clear provocation from the Birdlife and had no right to get in. I think the Times can take initiative in this analyses and give it's direct analyses/opinion.
J. Borg
Apr 21st 2010, 10:38
provaction??
walking in an uncultivated field, with no Private signs, and doing no harm?
No wonder hunters never report the illegalities that their peers keep on committing with impunity, if they have the cheek to come up with hollow excuses for this arrogant and violent behavior!!
If some are so touchy about private parcels of land in the open countryside - they should support the call made by Ramblers Association to have such "private land" claims corroborated and then officially marked so - but not surprisingly FKNK are not too keen about such exercise....
G.Debono
Apr 21st 2010, 10:43
It is unclear if this was a private field or not. However, no one has a right to use violence, even if this was a private field. The law is against you, even if you are the owner of the field. You can ask the people to leave, you can ask the police to remove the people from your field, but you can never use violence to remove them. You are liable to be prosecuted and punished if you do.
Nobody can take the law into his own hands. Hopefully this note will prevent silly comments about whether the field was private or not to justify what happened and provocation. I can provoke you to do something - but you will have to pay for the consequences if you carry it out. Think before you act. Of course, asking hunters to think is like asking a goldfish to remember my 1+1 - mission impossible.