Vandalising historical Peace Lab statues earns man seven-year sentence

A 37-year-old man from Sudan has been jailed for seven years after a court found him guilty of intentionally damaging statues considered to be national heritage at the Hal Far Peace Lab in 2020. 

Birzebbugia resident Musaqad Hajeji had been charged in connection with the 12 May 2020 incident, as a result of which statues of St Francis and St Michael, sculpted in the 1970s by renowned artists Ganni Bonnici and Anton Agius, were damaged and defaced.

The court heard how Peace Lab founder, Fr. Dionysius Mintoff OFM, had been celebrating mass in the chapel when he heard loud noises coming from outside and people calling for him to come quickly. Once outside, he saw the accused, whom he had never seen inside the premises before. 

He had told the court that when someone had asked this man why he had done what he had done, he noticed Hajeji smile.

Whilst cleaning the area, the Franciscan priest had noted that someone had scrawled graffiti in Arabic script on the statue, also discovering that the statue of St Michael, as well as statues of a wolf and a sheep - part of the statue of St. Francis, had been smashed.

Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo, presiding the case, was told that it emerged from the investigation that the accused had shattered the statues with a rock and that residents at the Peace Lab had restrained Hajeji until the police arrived.

During interrogation, Hajeji, while duly assisted by a lawyer, had released a statement in which he admitted to having caused the damage. This was backed up by eyewitness accounts given in court by the people who had held the accused down, while waiting for the police after seeing him writing on and hitting the statues.

A court-appointed expert confirmed the damaged statues to be items of National Heritage 

In view of the evidence, the court said that there was “no doubt” of the man’s guilt.

Hajeji, who was also found guilty of recidivism, was handed the maximum punishment under the Cultural Heritage Act, that of imprisonment for six years, together with an additional year in jail for his recidivism.

Police Superintendent Trevor Micallef prosecuted.