Updated | PN demands responsibility be shouldered for orchestra’s inaction on sexual harassment case

Updated at 1:55pm with Culture Ministry statement

The Nationalist Party is demanding that the top brass at the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra be held responsible following a case of sexual harassment involving a female member.

PN spokesperson Julie Zahra said that a week after an orchestra official admitted in court to sexual harassment of a female member, she expected the management or the culture ministry to investigate why no action had been taken despite the case having been flagged to the MPO’s CEO.

“A week has passed since the court case and no one has shouldered responsibility for what happened at the MPO… after the CEO was allegedly informed of the accusations but failed to act on them, the PN is disappointed that nobody has shouldered responsibility for this behaviour,” Zahra said on Wednesday.

She said it was shameful that a culture of impunity is allowed to flourish. “Government and people close to it are covering up for each other, even in a serious case like this, where the victim had to resign from work because of the harassment she endured,” Zahra said.

Last week, a senior official at the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra was placed under a restraining order and handed down a suspended sentence, after admitting to having sexually harassed a young female orchestra musician over a span of more than three years.

The 31-year-old Gozitan man was accused of harassing the young woman, subjecting her to an unsolicited act of physical intimacy, subjecting her to unwanted sexual behaviour and misuse of telecommunications equipment.

He is understood to have sent the woman sexually-suggestive messages and would repeatedly touch her inappropriately, ignoring her requests that he stop.

The abuse lasted from May 2019 till last month. The victim, a classically trained musician, had resigned from the orchestra to avoid further contact with the man.

Ministry: Official was suspended, internal investigation underway

The MPO official who admitted to sexual harassment in court was suspended "immediately" on half pay, the ministry clarified on Wednesday afternoon.

The suspension came into force when the court case was decided. The ministry added that once the period allowed at law for the person to appeal lapses, "an external disciplinary board will hear the case" for further action.

The ministry said that on the same day of the employee's suspension, instructions were given for the creation of another external board to evaluate the circumstances of the case and make the necessary recommendations. The statement did not specify what recommendations the board was expected to make.

The ministry did not respond to calls for the MPO's top brass to shoulder responsibility for the failure to act on the claims of sexual harassment when these were first made.