A journalist and two cameramen who are employed with Allied Newspapers Ltd today recounted moments of tension leading to the incidents which occurred during an illegal protest held by some 200 hunters in the streets of Valletta a day after Prime Minister Joseph Muscat ordered that the hunting season is stopped much earlier than planned.

10 hunters are currently facing criminal charges following the illegal protest held in Valletta on 21 September, Independence Day. Another hunter's case will be heard separately tomorrow. The hunters were escorted to court under arrest.

The hunters' lawyers asked the court to grant their clients bail. Magistrate Antonio Vella said he would need some time to decide and would inform them tomorrow morning. This means that the hunters would have spent 10 days in prison until the decision by the magistrate is taken.

Two of the three witnesses pinpointed David Spagnol as being one of the main ring leaders.

The government's decision had come about after a number of protected birds were allegedly shot down by hunters.  One hunter had also been chased by a police official who was off duty after the policeman spotted the hunter shooting down a protected bird while he happened to be taking pictures in the same area the hunter was in.

The first to take the witness stand was journalist Ivan Martin who said that in order to get a bird's eye view of the protest, he stood on the steps of the theatre in Valletta. But the next thing he knew, he was insulted by some of the protestors, who he said were more aggressive than others, and even was the target of a hot dog and paztizziwhich were hurled at him by some of the hunters.

He said that he was also kicked from the back but he was unable to identify who had done so.

"When I arrived at the scene of the protest, which started off near the new parliament building, I introduced myself to some of the hunters as being a Times' journalist.

"Some were fine with my presence but some others were angry.

"One also waved a fake rifle while the protestors were walking to St George's Square; the protestors were under the impression that the prime minister was inside the palace and they started to insult him and the government.

"Some even threw beer cans towards the PL club, which was closed at the time of the protest," he said.

Hunters immediately told Mr Martin that they held the protest spontaneously and in no way were representing the FKNK, the hunters' lobby group.

When we got to St George's Square, Mr Martin recounted, one of the hunters said he would slice my neck. Mr Martin identified the aggressor as being Spagnol.

When asked by the court what made the hunters go wild and try to attack him, he said that probably because he took a picture of them with his phone.

Chris Sant Fournier, a cameraman, told the court that a protestor tried to poke him in his eye but missed his eye. But he could not identify who the person was since the aggressor was wearing a hat at the time of the incident.

He said that during the commotion which ensued, he spotted a hunter kick his colleague.

He said that hunters started to get angry after they asked him who the media organisation he represented was, while also asking him if Allied Newspapers had taken a stand against hunters.

"I never replied to that question," he said, and on moving away from them and continuing to take pictures I was met with insults and threats," he said.

Mr Sant Fournier also said that a few hunters warned him not to take pictures of them.

Another cameraman, Mark Zammit Cordina, told the court that a certain Chris Callus hit his camera while he was filming the protest.

He said that he could point the man out in court since he had footage of the individual.

"Some even went as far as offending the prime minister," he said. When asked to say what the offensive words towards the Prime Minister were which were said by hunters, he replied: 'Il Prim Ministru purcinell' (the PM is a clown) among other offensive words.

An inspector of police, Steven Mallia, said that he got to know about the protest through Facebook.

The case is set to continue.