‘Have We Forgotten What Happened To Daphne?’: River Of Love Pastor Takes On Satire Controversy In Massive Post
The pastor of a local religious group has opened up following days of controversy and public debate after a Maltese satirist was levelled with criminal charges over an “online joke” that involved his group.
In a post of Biblical proportions on his Facebook page, River of Love’s Gordon Manché said he wanted to share his thoughts as the “religious shepherd” leading a Christian movement that’s been “growing strongly after 17 years” in Malta.
“Like every other spiritual leader, part of my work is protecting the herd of Christ… and with full respect to Evarist Bartolo and agreeing that we need to protect freedom of speech, it shouldn’t be used to hurt one’s neighbours purposefully, only to then hide behind the fake excuse that it’s all a joke,” Manché said, before quoting some Catholic proverbs.
“Have we already forgotten what happened to Daphne Caruana Galizia?” Manché asked, in reference to the Maltese journalist who was hounded by critics throughout her life, before being assassinated by car bomb.
“Just like what Matt Bonanno wrote (whether it’s a joke or not) there are others who said similar things – and while some of those remained just comments or jokes (thank God), others became reality!”
Manché’s post comes after satirical website Bis-Serjetà’s Matt Bonanno was interrogted by police before being charged over a comment he made online about “carpet bombing” River of Love’s headquarters.
Since then, former minister Evarist Bartolo has come out publicly to argue that it was clear that the satirist was joking, and that he had no actual intention of finding military airplanes to carpet bomb a building in Malta.
Others have questioned Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa’s allowance of the criminal charges to even be issued, warning it may have a chilling effect on public discourse and criticism.
When Lovin Malta asked Manché’ if he was the one who personally reported Bonanno to police, he said to allow the law to do its job.
What do you make of the pastor’s thoughts?
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