Cyprus proposes tougher penalties for poaching — Cyprus Mail
In Cyprus, Pantelis Hadjierou, head of the Game and Fauna Service, told the parliamentary environment committee that a group of poachers in Androlikou hunt hares illegally almost every night despite repeated reports. This was reported by Cyprus Mail.
According to Hadjierou, professional poachers view fines as expenses related to their activities, so stricter measures are needed for repeat offenders. He told MPs that revenue from poaching in Cyprus exceeds €10 million a year, confirming estimates by environmental organisations.
Proposal to revoke licences
The head of the service proposed granting the agency the authority to revoke offenders' firearms licences or driving licences. In his view, financial penalties do not deter those who systematically engage in illegal hunting.
AKEL MP Nikos Kettirou cited the example of a poacher from Larnaca who was the subject of seven complaints in one year. For the first six complaints, he paid a total of €13,500 in fines in cash, but committed another violation less than a week later.
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Deputy police chief Michalis Katsounotsos acknowledged that poachers often avoid paying out-of-court fines, causing cases to be referred to court. There, he said, punishments are usually lighter, and fines can be paid in instalments. He also noted that police have paid less attention to combating poaching this year because of other duties related to Cyprus's presidency of the Council of the EU and patrols due to foot-and-mouth disease.
Dispute over activists' activities
The meeting also discussed complaints by committee chair and ELAM MP Linos Papayiannis about activists from the Committee Against Bird Slaughter. Participants in the meeting said that representatives of the group had allegedly repeatedly harassed legal hunters and property owners. Katsounotsos said he needed to examine the specific cases.
Representatives of Terra Cypria and BirdLife Cyprus objected to this focus of the discussion, believing it could lead to the collective stigmatisation of activists instead of combating poaching. BirdLife Cyprus representative Melpo Apostolidou said the organisation had filed around 79 reports with police over the past three years, leading to 25 criminal prosecutions. In her estimate, 726,000 birds are illegally trapped in Cyprus each year.
DISY MP Andreas Constantinou proposed freezing the assets of people involved in large-scale illegal trade.
