Setting a dangerous precedent

Apparently in some localities in Malta the rule of law has been suspended because the locals are rednecks. Magistrate Carol Peralta is of the opinion that people who live in Mellieha are so culturally and mentally stilted that it is acceptable for them to attempt to murder anyone who insults them or wounds their ego.

I find this situation unbelievable. Is Magistrate Peralta seriously implying that people who feel that their reputation has been besmirched by a jibe are entitled to take matters into their own hands and resort to murder?

I fear that some of the marbles that Josie mislaid a couple of weeks ago have rolled into court and infected our judiciary.

Are we going to have a compendium of "unacceptable insults" sorted by locality, defining what constitutes a mortal offence in various villages in Malta, with the recipient of the insult entitled to arbitrarily sentence the alleged perpetrator to death and proceed with the execution immediately?

In areas like Sliema, for example, Magistrate Peralta could decree that telling a woman her bum looks large in a particular outfit is totally unacceptable - and that any lady subjected to this humiliation would be entitled to shoot your head off.

In Valletta, on the other hand, telling a woman her bum is big might be considered a compliment, while poking fun at the local football team might be just too much for the locals to bear. Woe betide anyone who crosses the locals in matters of a football nature, for Magistrate Peralta will condone their getting a good beating.

I could go on and on, but I guess you get the message. Magistrate Peralta's ruling is so misguided that I shudder to think of the consequences. It is not OK to give people the message that they are entitled to take the law into their own hands.

Just as it was unacceptable for Josie Muscat to say that men who beat their wives are often reacting to provocation (and are hence somewhat justified), it is deplorable for a Magistrate to imply that if a man insults your "honour" you are entitled to run him over.

Statements of this type put society on a slippery slope - I trust that Magistrate Peralta has noted the public reaction to his decision and that he will take it on board. I also hope that the decision will be overturned on appeal and that justice will finally be served.

The message must be clear. No; it is not OK to try to murder a fellow human being, no matter how injured your pride may be.

***

News that 13 persons "fell" from the bastions beneath the police headquarters' CID offices is chilling - particularly given the fact that 12 of the 13 are foreign and that the thirteenth, who was Maltese, died a few days later as a result of the injuries he sustained from the fall.

Nicholas Azzopardi made a number of serious allegations before he died. He stated that he had been beaten by the police while he was in custody, and that police officers had thrown him out of the window. If this is true, then Nicholas Azzopardi was murdered - by the very same people who supposedly are entrusted to protect the public and to maintain law and order.

It is indeed worrying that one of the policemen named by Azzopardi as his killer was later shown to be a criminal. It does not prove that Azzopardi's claims are true, but it casts serious doubts over the statements issued by the police in the aftermath of the accusations.

It is also worrying that the other 12 people who had the misfortune to fall out of the windows at the police headquarters were 'foreign'. Are we looking at a case of 12 irregular immigrants falling down the wall known as 'tal-klandestini'? Why is this wall called tal-klandestini, anyway? Is there a subtle (or not so subtle!) message here? Are some police officers racist? Are they throwing irregular immigrants out of the window? There are many questions that need answering, and the deafening silence from Police Headquarters is not helping matters.

I totally agree with the decision made by the Prime Minister to offer an amnesty to whoever discloses information regarding the death of Nicholas Azzopardi. This case is simply too serious to be ignored and we need to get to the bottom of it.

In fact, if I were the Prime Minister I would extend the amnesty to cover anyone who knows anything regarding the falls of all 13 of the unfortunate souls who fell those three storeys.

People do not just "fall" off bastions...