The ‘incriminating’ photograph: six members of Birdlife Malta holding dead protected birds.The ‘incriminating’ photograph: six members of Birdlife Malta holding dead protected birds.

Six Birdlife Malta members who were photographed holding dead birds to highlight illegal hunting will be charged with possession of protected species.

The court ordered criminal action to be taken against the bird lovers after the Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FKNK) asked the police to investigate when, in October 2012, Birdlife released a photograph featuring members in possession of dead protected birds.

The police refused to take any action arguing that the Birdlife members were highlighting illegal hunting and did not have the criminal intent to break the law. The photograph had accompanied a press release, the police noted.

Dissatisfied, the FKNK, through president Joe Perici Calascione and secretary general Lino Farrugia, filed a formal challenge in court against the Commissioner of Police.

Magistrate Aaron Bugeja said the photograph featured six people holding protected dead birds with no indication on whether they were authorised to do so or not.

He said he had no doubt about Birdlife Malta’s passion for wild birds. It was clear they not only wanted to spread knowledge about birds but, through their vocation, they also wanted to protect them by making sure that illegal hunting did not happen.

On the other hand, the law did not distinguish between different groups of people and there was no evidence to suggest that the individuals featured in the photograph had the authorisation or the right to handle the dead protected birds. One would have to make a distinction between the intention of a person to do something and the motive behind that same action.

In this case, the police argued that the Birdlife members’ motive was to publicly exhibit the dead birds but, on the other hand, it was a fact that the individuals in question were in possession of dead protected birds. It was up to the court to decide whether such action was illegal or not.

Magistrate Bugeja therefore ordered the Commissioner of Police to identify those Birdlife members seen in the photograph and prosecute them.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.