ONE journalists accept apology from man who spat at them, blame Bernard Grech for inciting hostility

The journalist and cameraperson of ONE have accepted the apologies of the man who spat at them during Thursday’s protests in front of parliament but told Opposition leader Bernard Grech to assume responsibility for the incident.

An elderly man was filmed spitting at and insulting the crew of ONE TV, the Labour Party’s channel, during protests outside of Parliament on Thursday, after the Opposition stormed out of parliament and boycotted the vote on a motion it proposed to condemn the Steward hospitals deal.

A sizeable crowd of protestors gathered outside of parliament and greeted the government MPs with boos and dummy €400 million cheques.

On Saturday, ONE Productions Ltd said that the apology was sent by the individual to the Institute for Maltese Journalists (IĠM), and it was then relayed to the station.

“In light of the fact that the apology was accepted, the two victims (a journalist and a cameraperson) did not lodge a complaint with the police for the incident."

ONE said that Thursday’s behaviour was unacceptable and condemnable, and blamed PN leader Bernard Grech for encouraging the protesters to act hostile and aggressively.

“This occurred due to his [Grech] behaviour in Parliament and outside, even so, that when he came out and saw that the crowd was not being aggressive enough, incited them and told them to ‘Qumu minn hemm'."

The PL media station said that Grech should shoulder the responsibility for this behaviour himself, and not those that fell victim to his “bad example”.

“In the face of the Opposition’s provocation, we keep appealing for serenity and composure,” ONE Productions said.