The two 32-year-old French nationals, who were members of the international environmental organization Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS), were injured last Wednesday morning by pellets from a hunting rifle, while they were in a designated hunting area at Cape Greco in the Famagusta district. As a reminder, a 35-year-old hunter was arrested in connection with the incident; it appears the shot was fired by him.
According to the police, the incident occurred around 7:00 a.m., when members of the Game and Wildlife Service and three other individuals, aged 31, 32, and 32, were in the area. Under circumstances that are under investigation, the two 32-year-olds were struck by pellets from a hunting firearm and were subsequently taken to the Famagusta General Hospital, where it was determined that one had a graze wound to the head, while the other had a superficial wound to the right shoulder.
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ELAM MP Linos Papagiannis spoke about the incident on the Alpha Kalimera program, arguing that the hunter “did nothing illegal,” since he was “engaged in lawful hunting activities” and now “faces very serious allegations, because these gentlemen went and accused him of firing from a distance of ten meters”.
The Member of Parliament disputed the activists’ claims that the arrested hunter fired from 10 meters away, noting that if that were true, they would have had “a large number of pellets” in their bodies and would have suffered “much greater damage.” On the contrary, he added, “one of them had a single pellet in him.” Mr. Papagiannis also argued that in this particular incident, the activists “exploited the situation, while they bore sole responsibility for what happened.”
“The hunter did not intentionally aim at them; there are witnesses in the area who state that the hunter aimed at legal game and is now under arrest and in custody,” he emphasized. “These people have taken their actions a step further and are hiding behind bushes, out of sight, in an effort to find someone who might commit an offense,” said the ELAM MP.
Mr. Papagiannis reminded everyone that we are in hunting season and that hunting expeditions take place every Wednesday and Sunday in areas designated for hunting. In fact, “one of a hunter’s obligations is to wear distinctive orange clothing so as to be easily distinguishable from other hunters,” he added.
“Since last August–September, there has been an uproar over the issue raised by ELAM in Parliament regarding the actions of ‘so-called activists.’ The paradox of the whole affair is that the state continues to tolerate the behavior of certain individuals who have no authority to act in this manner, and what we have been warning about for so many years—and especially last August and September—has come to pass in less than two months,” the Member of Parliament stated.
Mr. Papagiannis also called on the other political forces and the state—”even if only in light of this tragic incident”— “to finally decide” to pass ELAM’s proposal, in order to prevent such tragic incidents.
READ ALSO: PHOTO: Here are the French environmentalists injured by a hunter’s gunfire – What they’re saying about the incident at Cape Greco | AlphaNews
