He takes a selfie with a seagull: skipper from Olbia on trial for "disturbing animals"
A 44-year-old on trial in Tempio for a photo taken in a protected area in La Maddalena
On trial before the magistrates of the Tempio Court for a selfie with a herring gull.
A 44-year-old skipper from Olbia has to defend himself from a singular accusation, that of "disturbing animal species in protected areas".
The complaint was presented by the management of the La Maddalena Park Authority and concerns events that occurred in September 2022 in the locality of Porto della Madonna, in the Archipelago.
The skipper is charged with a crime that is difficult to find in the criminal files: the prosecutor does not hypothesize mistreatment, but the "disturbance" of animal species. According to the charges, the 44-year-old was on a catamaran.
Then the reconstruction: a herring gull, attracted by the food, lands on the boat. The man, says Tempio prosecutor Gregorio Capasso, "grabs the bird by the neck and holds it, probably to be immortalized in photos". The prosecutor also specifies that the seagull is then immediately released. But a person who was near the catamaran filmed the scene with his mobile phone and reported everything to the La Maddalena Park Authority, which then reported the case to the Palau Forestry Corps. The skipper is defended by the lawyer Pierfranco Tirotto.
