Terminally Ill Prisoner Pens Thankful Open Letter To Bjorn Formosa After Public Call Of Support
Christopher Bartolo has penned an open letter to Bjorn Formosa after the humanitarian activist publicly called on the authorities to be “humane” and to do “the most rational thing” in the case of Mr Bartolo.
“I’m passing through a rough time right now, especially considering I lost the kidney I had been waiting on for so long,” said Mr Bartolo in his letter. “I’m writing this to you from hospital Bjorn and I want to send you strength because even though you’ve passed through everything you have, you still lead as an example for everyone and you’ve been able to do so much good.”
Mr Bartolo, whose most recent court sitting was deferred for the second time in two months as he remains in legal limbo, said that hearing Bjorn’s public call of support was a surprise that he greatly appreciated.
In his letter, he spoke about the hypocrisy of being sent to jail for medical marijuana when the government is green-lighting medical marijuana legislation, as well as the consequences of breaking the law.
“Everyone needs to pay for breaking the law,” Mr Bartolo said, “and this is why I won my constitutional case, because just as I broke the law, ironically the police broke the law in the process of their interrogation of me,’ he said.
He lamented the fact that Bjorn and himself had fallen sick at such a young age, when they could have done so many more good things in the world, and praised Bjorn’s wife for the example she set alongside him.
“It’s a great honour that I have the chance to write a few words to you. Keep your head up and don’t think about death but instead dedicate yourself to life like you always have,” Mr Bartolo ended.
His open letter comes after Bjorn called out the “great paradox of this country“, namely that a terminally ill man would be imprisoned for what multinational companies could be allowed to profit from in the near future.
Bjorn’s calls for being humane in the case of Mr Bartolo follow similar calls from other public figures such as former Minister Jason Azzopardi, as well as TV host Peppi Azzopardi and cannabis policy reform group ReLeaf.
What do you think of the imprisoned Christopher Bartolo’s open letter?
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