The Animal Party of Cyprus has called for a peaceful protest outside Parliament on Wednesday at 10am, in opposition to a discussion before the Parliamentary Committee on the Environment concerning the activities of specific activist organisations, which the party describes as the targeting of civil society.
The party's objections
In a statement, the Animal Party said it strongly opposes, on political and environmental grounds, the initiative placed before the Environment Committee to examine the "impact of the actions of specific activist organisations" operating in the environmental field.
The party raised a series of questions: which organisations are being referred to, which specific actions, which specific problems, and what measures are actually being proposed. It said that, to date, the matter has been raised in general and vague terms, without naming any organisations, without identifying specific wrongdoing, and without presenting concrete evidence to justify what it called such parliamentary targeting.
"Not a problem for society"
The party said environmental organisations, animal protection groups and ordinary active citizens "are not a problem for society" but part of civil society itself, adding that volunteers and organisations often fill gaps that the state itself is unable, or chooses not, to address effectively.
According to the statement, a citizen who reports poaching, animal abuse or environmental destruction "should not be treated as a nuisance" but should be heard. It added that if any wrongdoing exists, whether by an activist, an organisation, a hunter, a citizen or a state official, the law and the competent authorities exist to address it, and that there is no need to target civil society as a whole.
"We defend the right to protest"
The party stressed that it does not defend any wrongdoing, but consistently defends citizens' right to speak, protest, report concerns and campaign peacefully for the protection of animals and the environment. It said it does not accept the work of volunteers and activists being turned into a "phenomenon" requiring suppression, arguing that the real issues needing attention are poaching, environmental destruction, animal abuse and the state's failure to enforce existing legislation effectively, "not those who report them."
Call to join the protest
The Animal Party of Cyprus called on all citizens, organisations, volunteers, activists and anyone who believes in protecting nature and animals to join the peaceful protest on Wednesday, 16 September, outside the House of Representatives, during the sitting of the Environment Committee. The party said it would not be there to shout over anyone or to target individuals, but "to be heard" and to defend a principle: that protecting the environment and animals is not an offence, that protest is not an offence, and that activism is not an offence.
The party added that it has no state mechanism or state funding behind it, relying instead on volunteers giving their time freely, and said it respects the choice of those who decide not to attend, while asking that those who do choose to be present not be criticised for it.
