A police officer is being investigated over a claim he called Birdlife Malta members “faggots”.

The police said Internal Affairs had been called in on the case and environment organisation Birdlife had been asked to produce the evidence.

Birdlife says it has a sound recording of an Administrative Law Enforcement (ALE) police officer telling one of its members: “You are all faggots” (pufti kollha).

“We are calling for the immediate suspension of this officer,” Birdlife Malta executive director Steve Micklewright said.

Instead ­of arresting the suspected perpetrator,the ALE became more concerned that the incident was being recorded

The incident allegedly took place yesterday when a Birdlife member called for police back-up after spotting an illegally shot protected bird.

Birdlife said he ended up being arrested for two hours after officers objected to being filmed.

However, the police, in a statement last night, said there had been no arrest: “The request in terms of law was for the production of evidence on the basis alleged by Rupert Jeremy Masefield that he had in his possession a bird which is protected by law. Mr Masefield explained the case and further clarified that his NGO also had a dead swift which they referred to a vet.”

Birdlife said that at about 10.20am yesterday a team member – who was out on patrol with a camera crew from the UK – called 119 after spotting a dead protected bird, a Little Bittern, in the mouth of a hunter’s dog in the vicinity of Mosta. An ALE team turned up at about 11.40am.

“Instead of focusing on identifying and arresting the suspected perpetrator, the ALE became more concerned that the incident was being recorded,” Birdlife said, adding that recording such incidents was normal practice. In the past ALE officers had been filmed by Birdlife members on patrol without this leading to arrests, the NGO said.

It called for closer cooperation with the ALE, saying this was the second time in 10 days that Birdlife staff “have been required to spend time in police custody”.

On April 12, two members spent about four hours at the ALE headquarters being questioned by police after they reported evidence in the media of illegal hunting. Mr Micklewright said these incidents followed the decision of the Police Commissioner to deny Birdlife’s request for a member of the ALE team to accompany their volunteers during its Spring Watch and Raptor Camps.

Birdlife said the Commissioner told them that, this year, the police would not send ALE officers out with Birdlife since the police were “committed to intensify our efforts by increasing police personnel to support all the stakeholders to fight illegal bird poaching”.

Mr Micklewright said cooperation was now more difficult as a result. “It is surely no coincidence that there are now misunderstandings taking place between Birdlife Malta and the ALE”.

He added that Birdlife had come under pressure to sign a communiqué calling for closer cooperation between the government, environmental NGOs and hunting organisations to eliminate illegal hunting of birds.

“We are, of course, very keen to eliminate illegal hunting by cooperating with the police in particular.”

He called for the reinstatement of the accompanying ALE officer to ensure misunderstandings like yesterday’s were eliminated.

The police said they were all for cooperation in ensuring all laws were upheld and in being equidistant from both sides of hunting.