PN MP fails in last-ditch call to stop decriminalisation of religious vilification

Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi ultimately proved unable to convince justice minister Owen Bonnici to retract his proposal to decriminalise the vilification of religion.

During the final committee debate on Bill 113, Azzopardi warned that the proposed law could pose a risk to public order, but Bonnici brushed off his fears and argued that it will safeguard artistic freedom.

The Bill passed the committee debate – with the four government MPs voting in favour of the clause to decriminalise the vilification of religion and the three Opposition MPs voting against – and will now only need to pass through the formal third reading before becoming law.

Azzopardi had earlier warned that the decriminalisation of the vilification of religion was the Labour government's "most dangeorus and short-sighted decision" yet, and had accused it of “political atheism” and of adopting policies of “forced secularisation.

During today's debate, Owen Bonnici proposed an amendment to the law that criminalizes hate speech, so as to render it more clear that religious hate speech will not be tolerated. While Azzopardi supported the amendment, he warned that a fundamental difference exists between hate speech and vilification.

He insisted that his opposition to the law was not due to his faith, and indeed suggested that the law be extended to criminalise the vilification of atheism.

“All religions should be ready to be exposed to criticism and ridicule, but for goodness’ sake, vilification is worse than simple criticism and satire.”

Azzopardi also questioned whether artists also feel stifled by the laws that criminalize the mockery of the Maltese flag, sigil and President – punishable with three months’ imprisonment.

“Once the law passes, it will no longer be a crime to paint a picture of a rabbi, priest and imam sodomizing each other, but it will still be a crime to insult the President.

“If the motif behind the law is to protect artists, then has the time now come to decriminalize such crimes too? What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander…”

He noted that the vilification of religion is a crime punishable with imprisonment in Finland, Italy, Austria, Spain, Germany and Denmark, and that the Danish Parliament voted to stick with the current law last year for the sake of maintaining public order.

At one point, Azzopardi suggested that a provision be inserted into the vilification law to clearly specify that artists should be exempt from prosecution.

However, Bonnici retorted that it shouldn’t be up to the police and the courts – who he repeatedly described as “Big Brother” – to decide what constitutes art.

“Do we want to live in a society, in which Big Brother determine whether something is legally artistic or not?” he questioned. “Freedom of expression must be as far-reaching as possible, with as many opportunities as possible for artists to get their message across without the fear that Big Brother will take action against them, but with boundaries to safeguard people from hate speech. 

“I want to live in a society in which freedom of expression flourishes. It’s a question of principle; the Opposition is bringing technical arguments to the table as to why freedom of expression should be hindered, while the government is trying to break down barriers to freedom of expression, which we believe is a fundamental right.”

The Bill was inspired by the case of authors Alex Vella Gera and Mark Camilleri, who were hauled up to court in 2009 on charges of obscenity for having written a sexually explicit story in a student newspaper. Camilleri, now chairman of the National Book Council, was present at Parliament to witness the Bill overcome its final technical hurdle.

Apart from decriminalizing the vilification of religion, the same Bill also proposes the decriminalisation of pornography and the criminalisation of revenge porn.