Hunting lobby the FKNK have gone to court to protest against what they called the “repeated, systematic and regular spying” by BirdLife Malta activists on their members.

In a statement, the FKNK said that it was referring to incidents from over the past years when activists from the NGO BirdLife Malta were “spying” on FKNK members by filming them for long hours while these members are in hunting in “peace and quiet” in their private fields.

The FKNK said that this behaviour amounts to a breach in Data Protection laws because the filming and monitoring was being done without the consent of the individual being filmed.

“Over and above that, the same behaviour is illegal and abusive because the said spying activity is being done without any legal authorisation from any competent authority, which therefore constitutes not only an abuse of power, but also private investigative activities without a license”, the FKNK said.

The hunting lobby said that BirdLife Malta has no authority to break the law, or ignore or negate the rights of any citizens – not least of hunters or trappers.

They called for the arm of justice to clamp down not just on hunters and trappers, but also on the “illegal activities” by BirdLife Malta, which they said should stop immediately.

The complaint also cites the NGO CABS as another one which has been allegedly illegally spying on hunters and trappers.

The FKNK said that it had received a number of complaints from its members about being hassled by activists and having their privacy breached at all hours of the day.