Hunters can expect harsher restrictions after Sunday’s unruly protest but the hunting suspension will not be extended beyond October 10, according to the Office of the Prime Minister.

“These events [the protest] will pave the way for even stricter rules,” a spokesman for Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said yesterday.

“The suspension of the autumn hunting season should serve as a warning for the future and encourage bona fide hunters to report criminals,” the spokesman said.  

He defended the decision to suspend the season, insisting the government was true to its word.

While hunting rules were made “more realistic”, the government had warned it would put in place the tightest enforcement ever, the spokesman said. 

But hunting federation CEO Lino Farrugia was unimpressed by the explanations.

While condemning the protest and violence that ensued, he said hunters were very angry because of the collective punishment imposed on them.

“I will condemn all violence but I can never agree with collective punishment.

“The decision to suspend what is a normal hunting season is a big mistake,” Mr Farrugia said when asked whether his condemnation sounded hollow when he said that he understood hunters’ frustration.

Collective punishment was even considered a war crime and was opposed at EU level when contemplated in some countries, he added.

Mr Farrugia said the federation did not exclude organising street protests. 

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