Violence At Great Siege Monument: Activists Report Man To Police For Assaulting Woman And Smashing Her Phone
Pressure group Repubblika said it has reported a man to the police for physically assaulting a woman activist and smashing her phone to the floor at the Great Siege Monument in Valletta.
Repubblika said a group of around ten people had gathered in front of the monument to shout at and threaten activists who were laying flowers and candles at its foot in honour of slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
At one point, an Occupy Justice activist whipped out her phone to film them, an act which angered a woman. Mobile phone footage uploaded online shows the woman swearing at the activist as soon as realises she is being recorded.
“You should be ashamed of yourselves…yuk! Take my photo…you want to take my fucking photo? Fuck you, go fuck yourself!”
The activist’s phone was then snatched out of her hands by a man and smashed to the floor.
At one point two persons assaulted one of those that was protesting, flung her phone out of her hands, smashed it on the floor and broke it. A police report was filed on this incident at the Valletta Police Station.
One of the two persons can be seen in this film made on the phone snatched by another person who was with her and broken. According to Repubblika, this man not only snatched away the activist’s phone but physically assaulted her in the process.
The pressure group urged the police to take action in line with their duty to protect free protest.
“We don’t understand how flowers and candles are deemed an act of provocation while physical assault, insult and physical intimidation are consider justified,” Repubblika said. The police cannot remain neutral in front of this.”