- cash stashed away : Greeks stash cash away, send some money to UK banks
- Alawites : Syria's Alawites – a secretive and persecuted sect
- court : Critics outraged at Italian court's rape ruling
- Iran : Iran threatens retaliation over oil embargo
- AEL : Champions APOEL look for revenge over AEL
- England : Stage set for Six Nations kick off
- Alexander Downer : House takes pot shot at Downer
- buses : Our View: Costly mess of a bus service was not thought through...
- banks : Fitch downgrades Cypriot banks
- buses : Bus strike continues in most areas
Bird activists fear for their lives
Alex Heyd, who was beaten up by poachers, holding a bird on a limestick
THE lines have been drawn over the battering of foreign wildlife activists, pitting conservationists against the entire Paralimni community and local interests.
“If the activists do not leave here, I cannot guarantee their safety,” Paralimni mayor Andreas Evangelou told Sigma TV on Sunday night, two days after the incident.
The activists are afraid to venture outdoors in the Paralimni area, sources have told the Mail.
The Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS), whose activists were assaulted by locals last Friday, as well as conservationists in Cyprus have come under fire from politicians, hunters associations and Paralimni authorities.
The Hunting and Wildlife Preservation Federation yesterday accused environmental groups in Cyprus of encouraging foreign activists to break the law by trespassing on private property and provoking the locals.
Friday’s incident took place in an unfenced field. The activists claim it occurred in “common land”; locals say it was private property.
While condemning the attack, the president of the federation, Antonis Kakoullis, accused the activists of behaving irresponsibly and provocatively and of taking the law into their own hands.
“We are against illegal bird trapping. But the law should be enforced by the Games Service and the police,” said Kakoullis.
“We oppose violence. For God’s sake, this is 2010, we are a European country…we are not in Africa or in the jungle. On the other hand, the activists broke into people’s cars to check for [bird-trapping] nets. They were wearing berets and army fatigues as if they were commandos or something. I think the word ‘environmentalist’ has been misunderstood in Cyprus.”
Kakoullis blasted local conservationists for exaggerating the extent of illegal bird trapping and giving the country a bad reputation abroad.
“Whenever we represent our country in Europe we hear all sorts of things there which are not conveyed correctly by Cyprus’ so-called environmentalist groups. These groups have succeeded only in stabbing the country in the back. As for the activists, they should go to Sicily, to France and to England and see how the law is broken there, and not in little Cyprus.”
Famagusta MPs meanwhile stuck with their constituency, branding the activists as outlaws.
“It is unacceptable…their behaviour is aggressive, provocative and extremist. They have no respect for our laws,” accused DISY deputy Kyriacos Hadjiyiannis.
“I am sad to say that behind these activists are environmentalist groups, who sponsor them, perhaps not financially, but by supplying them information.”
And DIKO MP Zacharias Koulias suggested the activists had no business in Cyprus.
“This is an occupied country with foreign occupation troops, with flagrant violations of human rights…but these gentlemen [the activists] are not moved by any of that,” he asserted.
“Ambelopoulia are not an endangered species,” he added. “In any case, we should have asked the EU for relaxations on outlawing bird trapping, because the situation is not as serious as some make out.”
Martin Hellicar, campaigns manager for BirdLife Cyprus, dismissed offhand accusations that the group engages in misinformation.
“Certainly, we produce regular reports on the bird trapping situation. First and foremost, we apply pressure on a local level, but we do also inform the European Union. Some seem to forget that we are part of the EU now.”
Hellicar also had misgivings on a legal amendment, proposed by DISY MP Hadjiyiannis, providing for on-the-spot fines for people caught in the act.
Currently, bird-trapping cases go to court and violators are liable to fines of up to €17,000 and/or three years in jail. The penalties may be doubled for a second conviction.
But courts rarely dish out the maximum sentence, and more often than not fines range from €400 to €500.
Under the proposed amendment, offenders would be fined €1 per limestick. If this is intended as a financial deterrent, it is absurd, said Hellicar.
For his part, Environment Commissioner Charalambos Theopemptou sought to put things in perspective:
“If we had no problem with illegal bird trapping, the activists wouldn’t keep coming back to Cyprus every year. No doubt the situation has improved since we joined the EU, but not nearly enough.”
Pictures and videos of bird trapping activities are regularly posted on the Internet and Youtube, Theopemptou said, giving Cyprus a deservedly poor image abroad.
But he hastened to add: “If the activists had information about unlawful activities by trappers, they should have tipped off the police and let the police handle it.”
