21 February 2008 Rating 3% No Comment  

The Hunters Federation has issued a statement in response to BirdLife's statements. The full statement is quoted below: "If proof were needed of BirdLife (Malta)'s wild accusations and dishonesty, it was provided by the Malta Police Commissioner on Tuesday evening (Feb.19) when he denied a claim by BirdLife that no police action had been taken on its complaints against comments posted on the Federation for Hunting & Conservation - Malta (FKNK)'s website. The Commissioner gave a detailed statement of all the investigations undertaken and proved the opposite of what BirdLife was contending. It seems that BirdLife have become so much used to uttering falsehoods that they did not even consider the possibility that any of their statements could ever be proved false, this time around by the Malta Police Commissioner. That the president of BirdLife needs police protection is partly due to the tactics BirdLife, apparently on the advice of its salaried master, has adopted in its unnecessary confrontation with the hunters and trappers. Why did they give the impression that 80% of the countryside is in the hands of hunters and trappers and a no-go area for the public, when they know that this is not true? Why did they allow their British counterparts the Royal (apologies to Her Majesty) Society for the Protection of Birds to print and circulate a leaflet full of lies about Malta hunting practices? Why did they incite foreign interference and confrontation last September, and again intend to repeat the scenario comes this spring? Why did they parade a few "personalities" with T-shirts bearing the logo 'Ban illegal spring hunting' when they know very well that spring hunting has always been legal to date? Why did members of BirdLife feed misinformation to the continental bird societies, inciting them to write petitions to the EU full of lies and exaggerations? etc., etc. BirdLife (Malta) persist with its falsehoods and constantly acts against the spirit of the agreement signed in October 2004 by BirdLife International and the Federation of Associations for Hunting & Conservation in the EU (FACE). The Maltese taxpayer is being forced to pay for police protection for BirdLife officials just because these people are themselves intolerant of others and think of every opportunity to provoke hunters and trappers. It is a great pity that the Minister for Rural Affairs and the Environment failed to check their self-righteous arrogance." FKNK Council