Malta’s ‘Patriot’ Group Backtracks On Zack Meli-Inspired Protest
After calling for a national protest following the death of Zack Meli in an alleged Paceville fight last weekend, the Moviment Patrijotti Maltin, a nativist group, are stepping away from having the event connected with the incident.
“What happened to Zack has nothing to do with our protest. Zack is one example of several crimes being committed against Maltese on a daily basis. We even have Maltese mothers who speak out about what is happening to their children on a daily basis. What happened to Zack is terrible and unfortunate, but he is certainly not the reason behind the protest,” said MPM leader Henry Battistino to the Malta Independent.
Speaking to the Malta Independent, he said that the protest was actually about the lack of security plaguing the nation as well as the MPM’s demand for all foreigners who are found to have committed a crime to be sent back to their countries of origin.
He also pointed out that the poster that was widely shared was actually uploaded in the online group Għaqda Patrijotti Maltin, and not by his Moviment Patrijotti Maltin group.
“Alex Pisani is the person who uploaded the post,” he said. “Every day crimes are being committed. Every time crimes are committed by foreigners we always upload to social media. On that day, every media house including TVM described how this man was punched in the face by a Bulgarian, and later died in hospital due to his injuries.”
Alex Pisani is the president of the MPM.
“I am the leader of the party, and not Pisani. Do not forget that on the Ghaqda Patrijotti Maltin social media group we have 16,000 members and everyone has a right to post. As long as they do not cross limits, I cannot control what is posted,” he said.
This comes after the proposed protest had come under fire from friends and family of Zack Meli, who had called out organisers of the planned protest.
“How dare you use the loss of the life of a sweet, honest, loving and accepting youth to further your own messed up agenda?” one of his friends had asked.