Silvio Schembri Reports Man To Police For Comment That ‘One Can Expect A Car Bomb’ With PL
Economy Minister Silvio Schembri has reported a man straight to the police commissioner over a Facebook comment that “one can expect a car bomb” with the Labour Party.
The man left a comment under a Talk.Mt report on a press conference that Schembri gave to criticise the Nationalist Party’s electoral proposals for the business community.
The article was titled “Mal-PN ma tafx x’se tieħu imma taf x’se joħodlok” (‘With the PN , you don’t know what you’re going to take but you know what they’re going to take from you”), with the quote attributed to citizen.
One man commented “Miegħek tista issib bomba taħt il-karozza” (“With you, one can expect to find a bomb under their car”), in what appeared to a be a political retort referencing the 2017 assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
However, Schembri saw things differently and described the comment as a “serious threat”.
“I don’t know this man,” he said, while naming the commenter personally. “I felt I had to write to the police commissioner to urge him to investigate this threat. Such threats are unacceptable, no matter where they come from.”
The manner in which ministers interpret online posts is particularly crucial in light of a law being discussed in Parliament to specifically criminalise the acts of cyberbullying and cyberstalking.
Cyberbullying is legally defined as “threatening, intimidating or using abusive or offensive words” to someone via an electronic device, or “performing abusive or offensive acts” to someone through electronic means.
People found guilty of either offence will be liable to a jail term of between one and five years, to a fine not exceeding €30,000 or to both jail time and a fine.
There is no clause in the bill which clarifies what should constitute “offensive” or “threatening” words, not does the proposed law state it can be a defence for the accused to prove their comments were made for the purpose of discussion of public affairs.
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