Two weights and two friggin’ measures

Lino Farrugia, of the Maltese hunters federation, reminds me of Tutankhamun and Queen Victoria. I think this is because he's been at the helm of the same federation for donkey's years, and will only descend from his throne once he's ready to join those illustrious historical personages in the other world.

Which I don't actually look forward to... because at the end of the day, Lino Farrugia is actually quite good fun.

On Thursday, Lino issued a press release. It sounded like an extract from George Orwell's 1984. He wrote: 'No-one is above the law and no-one should thus be permitted to publicly write libelous comments illegally about anybody without being brought to justice. BirdLife Malta (BLM) who may expect immunity in this sense, have taken offence that the Federation for Hunting & Conservation - Malta (FKNK) has lodged complaints with the police regarding defamatory comments about the FKNK that have been posted by a few BLM's lackeys.'

Farrugia scribbles English as if he were a burlesque character from a Dickens novel. His writings is awkward, f***ed up and disjointed. From what I understand, he holds the belief that all humans are born to hunt and that we should preserve that genetic trait. A trait which, of course, does not exist.

Now, let's take a look at some of the comments that appeared on the Times of Malta website which have reportedly irked Mr Farrugia.

One comment on The Times allegedly ran: 'Our police is greatly outnumbered by hunters. It is impossible to keep up. I do not agree with invasion of privacy but if hunters are breaking the law over and over again what do we expect? If an area is prone to illegal activities it is going to be surveyed by CCTV cameras and so on, like Paceville.'

Now what, exactly, is so libellous about this comment?

The police were apparently presented with a report, and it appears that they then proceeded to approach The Times of Malta for details of the people who commented.  And guess what: The Times agreed to give the police the details of the people reportedly posting libellous statements.

Now, I won't pass on any comments about The Times - if they have no self-respect and are a bunch of pussies, that's their problem.

I do not believe that these are libellous statements. To say that hunters are breaking the law over and over again is a simple fact. I would add that most hunters break the law and that hunters are a cruel bunch. Now of course Lino Farrugia and all his friends are law abiding and have never ever in their long lives shot at or even contemplated at shooting at a protected bird. 

In fact, Mr Farrugia and most of his friends are noble, respectful hunters.

Lino Farrugia believes that anyone who objects to hunting should be gagged. He has even attempted to stop me from hosting a programme on PBS. And of course he has articulated his words through the pen of a lawyer. Lawyers love to waste time for their clients.

Farrugia - who, like Tutankhamun, is starting to give the impression that his ideas are truly mummified - believes that he is making inroads by making as much noise as possible.

The truth is that he represents an organisation that wants to preserve an age-old, retrograde tradition that finds pleasure in gunning down a feathered creature. I am no sociologist but I'm sure any sociologist worth their salt could easily dissect the Maltese hunter when it comes to their standing in education, culture, political inclination and other points that highlight the stereotypes of the Maltese hunter and trapper.

The only reason that Tutankhamun - only joking, I really mean Lino Farrugia -continues to have a respectful base is because Maltese politicians do not have the proverbial balls to ask them to f*** themselves.

Labour in general have an ingrained habit of sucking up to the hunting lobby. But time is running out, and the majority are now against hunting... especially spring hunting.  

But I don't wish to pontificate about either Tutankhamun or Lino here.

We all know that Farrugia's arguments are happily very wrong and we all know that soon, Farrugia - and alas, his law-abiding friends - will all be consigned to the history books. And we all know that when my children grow up, there will be no hunting in spring, and people will be ashamed to even admit that they are hunters. 

But it is the police I wish to take to task.

So the Maltese police have decided not to prosecute the hundreds who bribed and underpaid their electricity tariffs. The guilty include a hotel - a five-star hotel - and another sizeable commercial entity. There has been political direction in this regard.

Instead, policemen have been busily wasting their time to prosecute individuals who have passed comments on a newspaper portal about the horrible state of hunting. Let us be clear, this is criminal libel not a civil libel we are talking about. The implications are bigger.

The police should be ashamed of themselves. And The Times proud of themselves.

The thing is that the police are constrained to act when they receive a report.  The criminal libel law should be changed, along with the press laws.

And it is about time that Owen Bonnici and Manwel Mallia get their act together and start realising that we are living in the 21st century. They cannot go on arguing that the press and the people who interact with the press should be controlled. 

We need press freedom first, before we start to control what is said.

Well just in case Lino Farrugia wants to add me to his list, I'm going to facilitate his job with this final statement.

'Hunters in Malta, in their vast majority, are law-breakers. They shoot at anything that flies. There are, of course, a few exceptions, and I am sure Lino Farrugia is one of the few exceptions. I mean the very sight of him gives you the impression that he is not a law-breaker. But as we all know, exceptions do not make the rules. Over the years, Maltese hunters have contributed to the decimation of entire populations of wild birds. Because Malta is politically polarised, the hunters represented by their lobbies have threatened the political parties with their vote. Hunters in general are also very intolerant to being criticized. They have taken over public land and in fact they also object to being filmed and photographed. It is not the first time that hunters have been violent. Most Maltese hunters will be remembered for the massacre of protected birds such as eagles and flamingoes. Finally, I would like to say that I am very sorry that I referred to hunters as assholes, but I can't help thinking that I was right. So I really have to admit that this is a strained... sorry!'