BLM warns authorities: violence is on the increase
Franica Pulis BirdLife Malta (BLM) held a news conference yesterday to warn authorities that violence against their members is on the increase as a result of false promises made to hunters by the government and the hunting lobby.
Joseph Mangion, President of BLM, also reminded the press that during the three past years, BLM members have been constantly attacked without any resulting prosecutions. Amongst the past crimes Mangion mentioned the three vehicles torched in Buskett, arson and vandalism at the Ghadira Nature Reserve, and vandalism at Foresta 2000.
During the conference Paul Debono, a Maltese volunteer, spoke about the physical attack he endured last Sunday while out with an Italian birdwatcher. The two volunteers were approached by two men in a white truck. The volunteers did not even speak to them.
“We were in Dingli and heard some shots coming from an area. The lane we went into had no signs of private property. Two men took us by surprise and beat us.”
From the footage shown the aggressors continued beating the volunteers even after they told the aggressors they were leaving. They were also treated to verbal xenophobic abuse.
The two attackers would not let them go before they got the video camera, which they took back to the police station in Rabat with footage erased. However, BLM managed to get the footage back with the help of an IT expert, and have enough material to identify the aggressors.
Andre Raine, BLM Conservation Manager, spoke about the rest of the attacks and threats the volunteers received in the past few days since the Spring Watch Camp started. Apart from the graffiti threats and the car shot at in Manikata, they were threatened physically five times in a single week. These include being threatened with a stick, having several large rocks thrown at them in Has-Saptan.
Untilnow BLM has recorded 474 illegalities and a total of 744 shots over the last week. These cover only a small area of the island. The areas which have the most wildlife crime are Mizieb, Fomm ir-Rih, Dingli Cliffs, Delimara, Tal-Handaq, Chadwick Lakes and Mtahleb.
Steve Downing, a police wildlife crime officer for 15 years, also present at the conference said: “I have been coming here for three years now. Every time, I hope the situation will improve. Not only has that not happened, but law enforcement seems to be even weaker now.”
He asked: “The season will start on Saturday. How can you expect the police to respond with illegal and legal hunters at the same time?”
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