ELAM and AKEL clash in parliament as hunting chief warns activists risk being shot

Local akelelamenvironmenthuntingpoachingTop News ELAM and AKEL clash in parliament as hunting chief warns activists risk being shot Photo2 Blackcap Trapped On Limestick Relevant News Savvides and Angelidis should have been the first to demand the investigation 16 September 2026 ELAM and AKEL clash in parliament as hunting chief warns activists risk being shot 16 September 2026 Court of Appeal again refuses to free German woman in Kyrenia property case 16 September 2026 Angelos Nicolaou 16 September 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Cyprus’s parliamentary Environment Committee turned into a battleground of political conflict on Wednesday, as parliament members traded accusations over the activities of environmental groups campaigning against poaching. The session’s sharpest moment came from the head of the Hunting and Fauna Service, Pantelis Hatzigerou, who warned that activists confronting armed hunters in the field risk being shot. The dispute centred on the actions of specific organisations, including CABS, which campaigns against poaching, with parliament members split between accusing the groups of breaching the Criminal Code and defending civil society’s watchdog role. Committee chair Linos Papagiannis clarified that the discussion did not concern environmental organisations in general, but one specific group and a second that works alongside it. He accused the organisations of breaching the Criminal Code and obstructing citizens, revealing that a record of their activities had been submitted to two justice ministers. “They believe they have the right to obstruct. The police need to examine whether there is an instruction or approval from the government for them to operate in free Cyprus,” he said, describing “terrorised legal hunters” unable to file complaints. He also backed strengthening the Anti-Poaching Squad. ELAM’s Linos Hatzigeorgiou asked the committee to be briefed on the progress of investigations into criminal offences of illegal entry and harassment. His party colleague Sotiris Ioannou said the “so-called activists have camped out in the fields.” AKEL’s Giorgos Loukaidis responded sharply, accusing the committee’s leadership of targeting environmental organisations and striking a blow against democracy, and criticising the fact that the affected groups had not been invited to the session. “You’re putting the organisations in the dock, but you won’t let them be here to defend themselves,” Loukaidis said, arguing that activists act in support of the Republic’s authorities rather than against them. He questioned whether courts had ever convicted a single activist, and how many complaints existed against legal hunters, adding: “We need to apply the law to everyone, and not take sides with anyone. We should be defending the law, not the lawbreakers.” Responding to criticism over who had been invited to the session, Papagiannis said it had not been possible to invite 325 representatives of hunting organisations and 18 from environmental groups. Loukaidis pushed back again, restating his party’s firm support for re-establishing the Anti-Poaching Squad and condemning what he called criminal elements exploiting the situation. AKEL’s Nikos Kettiros asked for a dedicated agenda item on combating poaching to be added to the committee’s work, while DIKO leader Nikolas Papadopoulos focused on the need to review and strictly enforce the existing legal framework. ALMA leader Odysseas Michaelidis asked whether police were examining possible criminal harassment offences by activists, while noting their role in exposing poaching and pointing out illegal activity that authorities had missed. Parliament member Litsa Drousiotou remarked sarcastically that “we’re policing the citizen instead of policing the authorities, which is how it should be.” Giannis Laouris of Direct Democracy stressed the important role non-governmental organisations are called on to play in society. Hunting Service: “We risk mourning victims” Hatzigerou called for a clear distinction between legal hunting and criminal poaching for profit, such as trapping blackcaps with nets. He praised the “very good cooperation” with environmental organisations such as Terra Cypria and the Cyprus Ornithological Society, saying “they help us, and we help them, on environmental matters.” But he warned of the danger posed by activists intervening in the field on their own initiative. “If they keep hunting down legal hunters, we will mourn victims,” he said. “When one person is holding a weapon, if someone other than the police challenges him, the reaction is different. If an activist stands in front of a legal hunter, he risks being shot.” Hatzigerou acknowledged that in the past, and to a limited extent today, activists have illegally entered private properties. He revealed that the Hunting Service had previously filed complaints against activists who lay in wait and released birds from nets, but that the Law Office of the Republic had decided not to pursue them. He said there were no joint operations between the Hunting Service and activists, though police and the service respond daily to phone complaints from both citizens and activists, who often hand over evidence. He said around 450 poaching and trapping cases are recorded each year, but that complaints specifically about poaching number no more than 70 annually, and that professional poachers do not currently face deterrent penalties. Hatzigerou revealed that new legislation being prepared will ban the use of drones in hunting, since their flight resembles that of birds of prey, a method used by activist organisations. Read more: Organisations seek protection after parliament grilling of environmental activism Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Savvides and Angelidis should have been the first to demand the investigation Court of Appeal again refuses to free German woman in Kyrenia property case Fire breaks out in Giolou, Paphos, aircraft and ground crews battle blaze The far right’s fringe, and Trump’s Cabinet approves plan to bar under-15s from social media in Cyprus More checks. A law that needs rewriting. ‘The best of times, the worst of times’: Von der Leyen’s vision for Europe Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.