Men’s Rights Foundation Predicts Roderick Cassar Will Win Legal Challenge Against ‘Disgraceful’ Femicide Law
The Men’s Rights Foundation has predicted that murder suspect Roderick Cassar will win a legal challenge he filed gainst the new femicide law, emphasising that all lives should be considered equal and valued equally.
“This was always going to happen, the very first case that came under this disgraceful, undemocratic bias femicide law in Malta,” the Foundation said.
“Never to condone what he actually did, but you can’t have a law for the killing of one gender by default gives a maximum jail sentence and the same homicide crime committed against another gender not.”
“All lives are equal and valued equal, that’s the basis of #quality for all that you claim to be wanting to achieve.”
“This law will be taken to the #Constitutional court and his lawyers will win. Then serious questions have to be asked of the individuals who pushed for this law and who passed it, and what their motives really were.”
Legal representatives for Roderick Cassar, the first person to be charged under Malta’s new femicide law for allegedly killing his wife Bernice, have filed a constitutional challenge against the law itself, which the government introduced following the murder of Paulina Dembska in 2022.
They argue that the introduction of aggravating factors for femicide breaches Cassar’s right to a fair hearing and promotes discrimination, sexism, and inequality.
The lawyers claim that the law’s gender-specific application creates preferential treatment of female victims over male victims in similar circumstances.
Among their concerns with the new law is the elimination of the “sudden passion” defense in cases of femicide. Cassar’s legal team contends that the plea should either be removed entirely or not excluded in a discriminatory manner.
They emphasise that the plea reflects human nature and the potential for provocation to trigger an uncontrollable reaction in ordinary individuals.
The lawyers argued that the courts should have the authority to provide fair and equitable punishments based on each case’s specific circumstances.
They question why the concept of femicide is not applied to all crimes against women or why men’s lives should be considered less valuable than women’s. No other country has introduced a law that allegedly discriminates against men in this way, according to the defense team.
Do you think the femicide law is discriminatory?