‘Unacceptable’: Repubblika Defends Freedom Of Expression After Cancelled Interview With Murdered Victim’s Mother
Civil society movement Repubblika has spoken out to defend freedom of expression after an interview on a local discussion program was cancelled due to a court mandate.
This comes following yesterday’s news of an interview with Chantelle Chetcuti’s mother, a victim of a stabbing that occurred almost two years ago in Żabbar, which was cancelled from being aired.
“Repubblika absolutely does not agree, and cannot agree with any form of censorship of freedom of expression,” it wrote in a press statement.
“Repubblika wholly defends the journalist’s rights and also the producers of the program as well as ONE TV, to air the interview and discuss it on their program,” it said.
“Repubblika also defends the rights of the person being interviewed, and the rights she holds to make her voice heard without any form of censorship,” it continued.
“Nothing justifies the victim’s family members being held back from speaking about the realities of what happened,” it continued.
The activist group continued to stress that it is absolutely unacceptable for someone to be silenced in such a manner, especially given the nature of the situation.
“It is unacceptable that the courts or any other state institution would interfere on such matters in a democratic country, and be used to silence someone,” it lamented.
“It is even more and more unacceptable when the person in question is a victim of a crime or a relative of someone that was a victim, as it happened in this case,” it concluded.
The man accused of murdering Chantelle managed to file a court application which led to the interview not being aired after he argued that airing the interview on ONE TV’s Awla would prejudice his right to a fair trial.
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