Elam MP and House environment committee chairman Linos Papayiannis said on Monday that he will refuse to invite a group of anti-hunting activists to an upcoming committee debate, describing their conduct as having gone “beyond the limits of what is tolerable and permissible.”

Speaking on CyBC, Papayiannis clarified that his refusal did not concern activists opposed to poaching in general, but a specific group he accused of seeking a “complete ban on hunting in Cyprus”.

“When a group of people foregoes order, the police, the game and fauna service, they are violating the law,” he said.

He said hunters with valid licences in Larnaca and Limassol had been reported to authorities despite hunting legally, and claimed activists had in some cases stood in front of armed hunters to obstruct them.

He put the number of these reported activists operating in Cyprus at around ten arriving seasonally, with two based permanently on the island and some three or four Cypriots assisting them, saying most came from European countries including “Italy and Sweden”.

Confirming the organisation would not appear before the committee, he said, “I am neither going to invite them nor do I recognise them”.

The agenda tabled by Elam before the House environment committee, that being the debate regarding “environmental activists and the phenomena surrounding them”, has been backed by both Diko and Disy.

Akel MP Marina Nikolaou said Elam had first attempted to table the issue using stronger language accusing activists of “uncontrolled activities,” which was withdrawn after Akel objected before returning the motion under a different title.

She argued the committee should focus its attention on poaching rather than on those exposing it.

Former MP Alexandra Attalides made a similar argument, citing reported threats and assaults against environmental campaigners.

Diko spokesman Panikos Leonidou defended the committee’s right to hold the discussion, saying “not all these organisations are the same”.

The Animal Party has called a protest outside parliament on Wednesday, while Alma said the item’s wording appeared to prejudge the outcome of the debate before it had begun.