Filenews 17 February 2022 - by Michalis Hadjivasilis
The Court of Appeal annulled the €275 fine imposed by the court of first instance on a 77-year-old man for poaching birds and raised it to €1,600. It is noteworthy that he was initially fined €5,000 out of court.
The Attorney General considered the €275 penalty to be insufficient and appealed which was upheld by the Court of Appeal, which found that the situation is desperate with the hunting of wild birds. The accused had admitted five charges of offences in violation of the Protection and Management of Wild Birds and Game Law. He had installed in an open space a net and a soundproof device with imitative voices of wild birds in operation. The operation of the device attracted birds trapped in the net. When on the morning of 12.10.2017 the accused arrived at the site, he began to kill the birds trapped in the net. Then intervened police officers of the Anti-Poaching Unit of M.M.A.D. who were hidden there. When he was drawn to the law, he replied, "Sorry, I was wrong."
The Court of Appeal held that the trade of protected birds, especially vine birds, has reached great proportions and exposes Cyprus abroad, but in any case any offence that goes against the aims of the legislator is serious. The Court also pointed out that the situation today is desperate with regard to the existence of prey and wild birds. Strenuous efforts are being made by organised groups to enrich the game and wild birds and additional measures are being taken to protect them, but no effort will be successful unless illegality in this area is stamped out. And it could be of no importance that the birds trapped and killed were in this case migratory.
The Court of Appeal finally held that the sentences imposed by the court of first instance, "do not correspond to the seriousness of the offences, do not serve the parameter of general deterrence and end up manifestly inadequate under the circumstances of the case". That is why it proceeded to revise them upwards, taking into account the long time that has passed since the day the offences were committed.
