Former far-right apologist reappears next to Busuttil

Alexis Callus, who resigned in 2005 from the Safi local council as PN deputy mayor after he made racist comments on a far-right website, has reappeared by Opposition leader Simon Busuttil’s side.

Callus, who is the nephew of former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi, had attended a Norman Lowell meeting in Safi during which Lowell had attacked politicians and media for ‘defending’ migrants and asylum seekers.

Callus had taken responsibility for the comments he posted on the internet, and resigned his councillor’s post.

Writing under the pseudonym Operazzjoni C3, Callus was a regular poster on Ave Melita, a far-right internet forum that attracted media attention as immigration became more of a critical issue in 2005.

Callus, then aged 24, called for a ‘Partit Nazzjonalista Veru’. In one of his deleted messages – which was then retrievable from the internet thanks to other fascist supporters who reproduced it elsewhere – Callus said that Turkey might be useful within Europe, only to host unwanted Africans. “If Turkey would consume the migrants from Africa (due to their cultural similarities), I think Turkey can become the compost heap of Europe and free our country from the unwanted waste.”

During his public appearance in Zurrieq last Monday, Busuttil attacked the Labour party for turning Cyrus Engerer into a “champion” after the Labour candidate was found guilty of vilifying his former boyfriend and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.