Woman 83, fined record €10,000 for possession of ambelopoulia
Published on November 10, 2011
THE LARNACA district court yesterday fined an 83-year-old woman €10,000 for possession of over 2,500 songbirds, the strictest penalty so far concerning the specifc offence linked to the illegal practice of trapping.
It is understood that a higher fine has been dished out for poaching in the past but the current case is the highest-ever fine for possession of ambelopoulia.
The birds, which had been trapped using mist nets and limesticks, were found in the woman’s Hirokitia home during a police raid in October last year.
The court said it was the biggest haul ever brought before it, with an estimated value of €8,000.
The law provides for a maximum sentence of three years in jail and or a fine of €17,000.
The court highlighted the seriousness of the offence but also took into consideration the fact that the defendant had immediately admitted guilt, as well as her age and health problems.
Hundreds of thousands of songbirds are killed each year in Cyprus and offered as expensive delicacies collectively known as ambelopoulia.
Cyprus has pledged to crack down on the practice, promising a zero tolerance approach during the Bern Conference on illegal bird killing in Larnaca in July.
But conservation group BirdLife Cyprus, says trapping levels this past autumn were still very high, reaching the same levels as last year, which had been a record year for the whole period of the monitoring programme.
In one area, BirdLife said it found 25 set nets “an unprecedented find in all the years of the surveillance programme,” it carries out every year.
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/crime/woman- ... a/20111110
If they dig up her garden they will find loads of pygmy-hippo bones!
She probably forgot she already had a whole load at home.
