This Is Criminal Libel By Stealth, IĠM President Warns After Police Charge Bis-Serjetà Satirist
Bis-Serjetà satirist Matt Bonanno’s prosecution over a joke shows that criminal libel is being reintroduced by stealth, the president of the Institute of Maltese Journalists (IĠM) has warned.
“Freedom of expression includes the freedom to offend within the parameters of the law,” Matthew Xuereb said on Xtra last night.
“What worries me about Matt’s case is the reintroduction of criminal libel by stealth and the safeguards that exist for journalists. We will follow the outcome of the case and see whether it will be one case out of many.”
Police charged Bonanno and a friend with breaking two clauses of the Electronic Communications law after they joked on Facebook about carpet-bombing the Christian fellowship group River of Love.
Xuereb said that the police should have the sense to use their own discretion when receiving a report, noting that Bonanno’s post was obviously satirical and had to be seen in its proper context.
Matt Bonanno
“Not even the Armed Forces of Malta have the capacity to carpet bomb places,” he said, stating that pastor Gordon-John Manché should have opened a civil libel case against Bonanno if he felt maligned.
Xuereb noted that Manché recently also filed a judicial protest against Times of Malta, the newspaper he works at, to demand the removal of articles linking River of Love to Paulina Dembska’s suspected murderer Abner Aquilina.
Manché was invited on the programme to say his side of the story but just answered “God Bless” and did not turn up.
Bonanno himself and former Education Minister Evarist Bartolo did appear on the programme however and aired the same misgivings.
Do you think that freedom of expression is being threatened by this case?
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