BirdLife Malta has condemned what it said, appeared to be a campaign of bullying and harassment by the hunters' federation (FKNK) aimed at curtailing people’s right to freedom of speech and to pass opinion and comment in the media.

It said the hunting association has lodged complaints with the police accusing private individuals who have posted comments on timesofmalta.com of defamation.

BirdLife said this most recent action by the FKNK followed the launch before Christmas of a petition by the hunting community to prevent a public referendum to abolish spring hunting.

BirdLife said that it understood that the police had received at least nine complaints from the FKNK against individuals. 

“It is deeply worrying that the police are having to spend their limited resources investigating these complaints when they are unable to control the acts of illegal hunters,” Steve Micklewright, Executive Director of BirdLife Malta said.

He called on people to sign the petition to call a referendum to abolish spring hunting. More than 45,000 people have signed the petition, which can still be downloaded from the BirdLife Malta website.

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