A second comedian is being taken to court by police following a report by a Maltese pastor – this time for joking about Gordon Manché’s predilection with booties.

In what some are seeing as the latest attack on free speech in Malta, comedian Dan Xuereb is now set to face charges in court in front of Magistrate Kevan Azzopardi after Xuereb hosted a live stand-up comedy set revolving around Manché’s plea to end anal sex.

During the show, Xuereb said:

“Manché went on a bit of a rant about how bad anal sex is. We need to listen to what he has to say. I think he’s right. Listen, as Malta’s biggest asshole, I think he knows what he’s talking about.” 

Speaking to Lovin Malta, Xuereb said he has already sought legal advice and will be fighting his case in court – but was horrified at how easily Malta’s Police Force could be “weaponised” against free comment with just one person filing a police report – regardless of how frivolous it is.

Under Maltese law, it is the Maltese police, paid by taxpayer money, that will be taking Xuereb to court and arguing against him, with Manché not really needing to do much beyond file the first report and maintain that he doesn’t want to drop the case.

“Why are our taxes being used to prosecute a comedian for sharing his opinions? Mr. Manché has the right to speak his mind, and we should have the right to call him an asshole for it.”

This is not the first time Manché’s used the police to silence comedians that mention his name; in January, police filed criminal charges against Matt Bonanno, owner of the satirical website Bis-Serjeta’, for “threatening to bomb” the Christian fellowship group River of Love.