The campaign against activists involved in the fight against illegal bird-trapping moves to the House environment committee on Wednesday. Elam, which has always sympathised with the bird-trappers and viewed the activists as enemies of Cyprus, has arranged that the role of the activists is discussed at the committee, which it chairs.

The matter was tabled for discussion in June, very soon after the new parliament convened, under the title ‘Request for examination of the out-of-control activity by the so-called activists and the need for the imposition of measures for tackling the phenomenon.’ Justifying the submission of the matter, two Elam deputies said the purpose was to “examine the extent of the consequences of the phenomenon as well as to explore the need for taking suitable legal or other measures for securing public order and smooth social operation.” The title of the discussion, which clearly showed the intentions of Elam, was amended by other parties.

Speaking on a radio show on Monday, committee chairman Elam deputy Linos Papayiannis said he had not invited any representative of the activists because their conduct had gone “beyond the limits of what was tolerable and permissible.” He claimed that he was not targeting activists opposed to poaching but a specific group he claimed was seeking a “complete ban on hunting.” Is there such a group which is active? He said there was and they had reported people hunting legally to the authorities. In some cases, he claimed, they had stood in front of hunters to stop them.

Is this a widespread phenomenon that justifies discussion at the House environment committee or just a pretext to attack activists that visit Cyprus during the trapping season for ambelopoulia? Activists of the international organisation Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) visit in early autumn and often alert officers of the Game Fund about mist-nets and lime-sticks. Three poachers were arrested, some 30 lime-sticks dismantled and four mist-nets confiscated by the authorities in the last few days. CABS also said they had freed 44 protected birds that were trapped. On Sunday, police announced they had issued a fine of €13,000 to a poacher, showing that the authorities are also involved in tackling the poachers.

Under the circumstances, it is difficult to understand what the real purpose of Wednesday’s committee meeting would be. We hope the other parties will not allow Elam to turn the meeting into an attack against all activists, who have been the target of the far-right from the beginning. We know there are votes to be won, especially in the Famagusta district, by presenting the poachers as victims of foreign activists, but the parties should not fall for this. The fact is that the activists work with and assist the Game Fund to enforce the law and they have often been threatened with violence by poachers for doing this. Deputies should remember that the activists are on the side of the law.