Maltese hunters, FKNK committee members fined in Sicily illegal hunting case
The hunters were fined €3,000 after they lost an appeal to have material seized by police declared inadmissible
Six Maltese hunters, including two FKNK committee members, were fined €3,000 by a Sicilian court after it rejected their appeal in an ongoing investigation into illegal boar hunting in Sicily.
The men were detained by police in Pozzallo as they attempted to board the ferry back to Malta in April. They were found to be carrying 500kg of wild boar meat packed into 79 sealed bags, 10 hunting rifles, over 300 cartridges and 31 used shells.
The group included two FKNK committee members, Richard Cila, and David Falzon, the president of the Malta Taxidermy Federation. The others being investigated are Dylan Falzon, Carmel Aquilina, David Joseph Catania, and Jason Mark Agius.
When contacted, a spokesperson for FKNK confirmed that the two were suspended in April, when the incident took place.
According to prosecutors, the men were hunting at a time when the hunting season was closed and at a site where hunting is forbidden.
With court proceedings underway, the six men filed an appeal against the Sicilian court’s previous decision to uphold the police’s seizure of material related to the case.
The men argued that their hunting activity was lawful, as it took place in a designated zone in which hunting activity is permitted year-round, following a COVID-era suspension of deadlines.
They also argued that they were carrying all the necessary hunting documentation and had previously carried hunted at the site in April 2022 and February 2023.
However, the court dismissed their appeal, saying some of the arguments were inadmissible as they had never been previously raised, while others failed to address the court’s detailed reasoning on the case.
The court concluded that the police’s seizure will remain valid, as the investigation into the six men continues, ordering the group to pay a €3,000 penalty in addition to court fees.