In a statement, the Federation for Hunting & Conservation – Malta (FKNK), has said that “on behalf of all of its members in principle and on behalf of several of its members who have been filmed without their consent, intends to press charges in Court against German-based CABS personnel.”
“The charges will include, but are not limited to: harassment; intrusion of privacy; trespassing; spying; flying of an unmanned remote-controlled aircraft equipped with video-recording equipment at a low altitude over private property; landing of this aircraft on private-owned land; unauthorised video and photo shooting; breach of local air-traffic control regulations and related dangers; etc,” CABS said.
Read more on Gozo News.
For those as confused as I was, CABS is the Committee Against Bird Slaughter. A news item on CAB’s site this week reported:
A model aircraft employed by the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) and the German TV station RTL to discover active illegal trapping sites has been shot down. The aircraft, equipped with a video camera, was hit yesterday by shotgun pellets, but no serious damage was caused. The aircraft has been operating since the beginning of the week and had already filmed four active trapping installations from the air. A huge clap net was detected in the south of Malta yesterday. Police seized the nets as well as some half a dozen protected bird species including Robins, Yellow Wagtail and Collared Doves. (More here)