Man Cleared Of Hate Speech Contradicts Superintendent’s Norman Vella Claims
Jeremy Portelli, a man who was recently cleared of hate speech, has insisted that inspector (now superintendent) Joseph Busuttil told him it was former TVM journalist Norman Vella who had reported him to the police.
However, Busuttil clarified in an email to Vella that he (Vella) never filed such a police report.
Portelli was charged with hate speech in 2023 after posting a Facebook comment under a TVM article that Daphne Caruana Galizia “rested and brought peace”.
Vella had published his comment back then, among several other comments insulting the assassinated journalist, to stress that PBS should moderate its content.
Portelli told Lovin Malta that when he was summoned for questioning, he asked Inspector Busuttil who had reported him to the police.
“He told me it was Norman Vella, which surprised me because I have never seen or spoken to Mr Vella in my life,” he said.
Portelli went on to say that on 19th February this year, he and Busuttil were waiting outside the courtroom for the latest sitting of the case to begin.
“I told him that I spent two years toing and froing from court but Norman Vella didn’t turn up once to testify. He told me ‘dawn ma tafx kif jaghmlu?’ (Don’t you know how these people behave?).”
Portelli was cleared of hate speech, with Magistrate Jean Paul Grech ruling that the police had failed to bring any evidence of the context in which he passed those comments.
However, after Portelli’s comments about Vella were published by ONE and Karl Stagno Navarra, Vella insisted that he never reported the man to the police and said he doesn’t even believe his comment amounted to hate speech.
He emailed Superintendent Busuttil for clarification and published his response – which confirmed that Vella had never reported Portelli to the police and was never summoned as a witness in the case.
Lovin Malta has asked Busuttil to clarify whether anyone had actually filed a report or whether the police took action after spotting Portelli’s comment on Vella’s Facebook wall.
Photos: From Left: Jeremy Portelli (Photo: Karl Stagno Navarra), Superintendent Joseph Busuttil (Photo: TVM), Norman Vella (Photo: Facebook)
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