A Maltese man, Robert*, who was filmed arguing with a sub-Saharan African man at a bus stop in Floriana has spoken out to vehemently deny suggestions of racism.

In the video, the African man can be seen accusing Robert of having offered him €50 in return for anal sex, an accusation Robert denounced as a lie. Another Maltese bystander stood up for the African man, accusing Robert of racism and swearing at him to sit down and shut up.

Robert ended up calling the police after the African man punched him, but the latter had caught a bus by the time they arrived on the scene.

“Unfortunately I am being perceived as a racist in this argument when in actual fact I am the real victim here,” Robert told Lovin Malta. “On Thursday the 27th of June at around 20:45, I was sitting quietly on the wall next to the subway minding my own business, when all of a sudden an African man approached me and started firing the words “pufta”.”

“I was shocked and startled at that point, because even though I identify with the LGBT community, were today I enjoy a lot of social rights, I still felt very much discriminated and offended, because I was made a mockery of and put to shame, Which is exactly why I stood up to defend myself.” 

“To make matters worse another Maltese man approached the argument and automatically assumed that I am the one conducting a racially motivated attack towards the African, which was not the case as I was simply defending myself.”

“The African man was very cunning at that point and accused me of offering him money in exchange for anal sex. Given that my feminine personality is very forward, it made his lie very believable. I was shocked because I would never do such a thing, especially knowing that I could barely afford to buy anything, let alone offer money in exchange for sexual favours.”  

He urged the public not to automatically assume racist motivations whenever an argument erupts between a Maltese person and an African.

“There seems to be a public misconception that whenever an argument involves a person of African decent and a Maltese, everyone seems to jump to the conclusion that the Maltese is the racist perpetrator,” he said.

*A pseudonym has been used 

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