Jason Micallef files criminal complaint against woman over Facebook comment

The comment in question was made by a woman who warned that 'his time would also come,' pointing to the fates of Muammar Gaddhafi, Saddam Hussein and Nicolae Ceaușescu

26 February 2024, 4:34pm
by Matthew Agius

3 min read

While noting that the comment had later been removed, Micallef’s lawyers said that he was nevertheless filing the criminal complaint “because apart from the direct threat against the person and furthermore the life of Jason Micallef

Valletta Cultural Agency Chairman, and former Labour Party Secretary General, Jason Micallef has formally asked the police to prosecute a woman who warned that “his time would also come,” pointing to the fates of Muammar Gaddhafi, Saddam Hussein and Nicolae Ceaușescu in a reply to a Facebook post.

The offending comment was published by Rosanne Carbonaro on 24 February, in reply to a post about Micallef’s appearance on a radio discussion hosted by Andrew Azzopardi on RTK. During the radio show, Micallef accused Repubblika Chairperson Robert Aquilina of being an “agent of hatred” and of being obsessed with persecuting former prime minister Joseph Muscat.

Muscat resigned in 2019 after angry street protests led by civil society groups, including Repubblika, following courtroom testimony that linked Muscat’s chief of staff to the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

During his appearance on the Saturday radio show, Micallef repeatedly described Aquilina as an "agent of hate," dismissing him and his “Repubblika associates” as “unhinged” and “obsessed” with “persecuting” Muscat.

Not long after the combative radio discussion aired, Carbonaro had taken to Facebook, commenting that “This guy’s time will come too!!! They’re all assured that nobody can do anything to them…take a little look at history…how powerful was Gaddafi, how powerful was Saddam Hussein…how powerful was [sic] Chausecu…You get the gist... everyone’s time will come... BE SCARED BE VERY SCARED!”

While noting that the comment had later been removed, Micallef’s lawyers said that he was nevertheless filing the criminal complaint “because apart from the direct threat against the person and furthermore the life of Jason Micallef, to the extent that he was advised to be afraid and very afraid with the clear indication that he would end up like ‘Gaddafi’, ‘Hussein’ U ‘Chausecu’ , which threat should be mitigated by the full force of the law, it is unacceptable that in a democratic society a person can be threatened in this vile manner…”

But after filing the criminal complaint, Micallef then took to Facebook himself in a bid to rally support, by conflating Carbonaro’s post with the NGO Repubblika, who he said, Carbonaro was a member of.

“A little while ago, through my lawyers, Dr Daniel Attard and Dr Ishmael Psaila, I filed, and presented reports to the police, against members of the association Repubblika and supporters of Notary Robert Aquilina, over serious threats against my life, and an incitement to hatred that they made against me through posts on social media, including those by Notary Robert Aquilina. Then look at them always play the martyrs or victims, and accusing others of what they do themselves.”

Upping the ante even further, Micallef then implied that the remark was aimed at an undefined group of people, and not just against him: “That is why it is no longer acceptable that there some people have come to think that they can threaten us or insult us through every means and expect that we do not take action against them using the strength and rulings that the law gives us.”

Matthew Agius is Senior Reporter on Law and Court Affairs at MaltaToday. He is also a Leg...