NEWS | Wednesday, 29 October 2008

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Bus driver loses job over commuter’s harassment

Karl Schembri
The man behind the disturbing YouTube videos showing the vicious harassment of a person with disability at the Valletta bus terminus has turned out to be a bus driver.
The driver, 23, was fired last Monday by his employer after he was exposed last Sunday on One TV programme Wara l-Każ as being the perpetrator of the despicable bullying that was posted on the internet before YouTube pulled off the offensive videos.
The president of the Association of Public Transport, Victor Spiteri, told MaltaToday that he had immediately suspected that the man who filmed and committed the harassment was a driver.
“Upon watching the films I had a suspicion of who it could have been, and I was proved right,” Spiteri said.
When he was summoned by the association, the driver admitted that he had harassed the woman and provided the footage to be posted on the internet.
The driver repeated his admission to Wara l-Każ, which had concluded separately that the driver was the perpetrator of the harassment.
Spiteri said the association could not tolerate harassment to commuters, especially by drivers.
“We have taken this case very seriously, as this was no joke,” Spiteri said. “This was a pure case of harassment. The victim is known to joke with drivers but this was something else altogether. We don’t tolerate anything of the sort.”
Spiteri said he was awaiting news from the police or the public transport authority. Although he was fired from his job as a driver, he still holds a driver’s licence given that the authority and the police have so far taken no disciplinary action against him.

Related news
www.maltatoday.com.mt/2008/10/05/t9.html

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