Who’s going to police the police?
Over the years, I have had several dealings with the police – in the role of victim, rather than aggressor, I hasten to add. Most of the officers I dealt with were courteous, decent and efficient. Over the course of the general election campaign, there were two different police officers stationed outside our house day and night, many of them so young that I was the one worrying about them standing outside in the dark. So it is just a plain shame that the good ones and the committed professionals are let down so badly by the ignorant thugs who give the entire force a bad name.
The Paceville events of last weekend have been much discussed. Those who belong to the far right of politics crawled out of the woodwork yet again to support what they call ‘our boys in blue’, against the vicious disease-ridden blacks in our midst and the crazy Maltese who think that the police shouldn’t beat black immigrants (or anyone else, for that matter). A few people claimed that the beating of black men by the police is not a racist act, because the police beat everyone indiscriminately, regardless of colour. Worrying as that might be, it’s true. I know of at least one incident in which a young Maltese man was savagely beaten by a policeman twice his size, who was summoned by a club bouncer. The young man lay on the floor in the street and the policeman kicked him repeatedly in the stomach, only stopping when the largest of the young man’s friends jumped on his back and hauled him off. Then they were all arrested, summoned to the depot the next day, and questioned, as though they were the ones kicking the policeman instead of the other way round.
In last weekend’s incidents, too, the case of the 18-year-old boy from Siggiewi who was maltreated by the policemen down at the station, then slammed against a wall by one of them, has been overlooked, because the other case is so much more serious. That boy has filed an official complaint. But there is no doubt that the case which drew most attention did so for two reasons: it didn’t just highlight the increasing brutality of the police towards those who get on their nerves. It was also undoubtedly a racist attack. Some people are trying to deny that it was so, but there are facts, backed up by several eye-witnesses, that demonstrate quite clearly that this was so.
Two men were quarrelling in the street outside a club. One of them was Maltese, the other was African. We don’t know the reason for the quarrel, but people who are in Paceville regularly tell me that this is a routine scene when Africans are prevented from entering bars and clubs by bouncers and security men. They circumvent the possible accusation of racism by demanding identification of anyone who is black or North African, then telling them that they’re not allowed in without it. If you look European, you don’t get asked for ID. Being European isn’t enough, because black or very dark Europeans have a problem there too. A friend of one of my sons, who is very dark, was once barred entry to a Paceville club and only allowed in when he spoke to the bouncer in fluent Maltese.
So two men – one black and one Maltese – were quarrelling in the street. The eye-witnesses who spoke to the press and gave statements to the police were very clear that this wasn’t a fight, and it wasn’t physical. They were just arguing verbally. Suddenly five officers came rushing up, one of them wearing the beret of the Special Assignment Group. Without so much as a glance at the Maltese man involved in the argument, they made straight for the black man, picked him up like a sack of cement, and threw him into the back of their van. The Maltese man slunk away. The police were so uninterested in him that we have to suspect that he was one of their bouncer friends, who might himself have called them in.
The eye-witnesses are categorical: at no point did the African man attack the police. They attacked him.
Is this the correct procedure for police handling of an argument between two members of the public? Of course it isn’t. No more than two officers should have approached those men, spoken to them sternly but politely, broken up the argument and moved them along. If they carried on rowing, they should then have warned them that they risked arrest for breaching the peace. And if that didn’t work, they should have taken the men down to the station until they were calmer, without manhandling them or using any form of violence.
I remember watching the aftermath of the London underground bombing on television a couple of years ago, and being impressed that even while working under such great duress, surrounded by panicking, bleeding people, hysterical family members and teams of medics, the police officers never let go of their self-control and their strict way of dealing with the public, not for one second that I could see on television. Hours into the ordeal, they were still saying “Move along, sir. I must ask you to move along, please, sir.” They had obviously been very rigidly trained and disciplined, not least in the importance of good manners even when dealing with difficult people and extreme crisis.
The eyewitnesses who were there at the Paceville scene said that as the man lay handcuffed in the back of the van, he could be heard screaming: “Let me go! I did nothing wrong! I promise I will never come here again!” I suppose he imagined that he had been arrested and manhandled by the police because Malta has laws against the presence of black men in Paceville, and that this is what happens to any black man who has the temerity to try and get into a bar (how dare he, the scum).
The van then drove off with him howling in the back. One of the young women present, a British subject who is reading human rights law at university in England, questioned the methods of the police. She was immediately arrested and taken down to the station by a policewoman who called her ‘You bitch’ and accused her of interfering in other people’s business. Her friends followed on foot and gathered outside the station. She was released but they could see the man who was attacked by the police, lying on the floor handcuffed to a bench. He was still protesting that he had done nothing wrong and pleading with the police to let him go. Before she was allowed to leave, the human rights law student made a point of obtaining his details in full view and earshot of police officers, to let them know that she had his name on record lest something happen to him when he was concealed from public view.
She and her friends stayed outside the station, refusing to leave. One of the policemen sauntered out with a cigarette and threw a challenge at them: “What do you know about the law, anyway?” Some of them replied that actually, they know a great deal, given that they are fourth-year law students. One of them said that the policeman was a fine one to talk, given that he probably barely had an O-level standard of education, and the policeman rushed at him, then thought better of it and went inside.
Another policeman came out, and tried to offer a soothing explanation to the angry young people. He obviously moves in very different circles to theirs, because he thought his explanation would be met with understanding: “You know why we keep him chained up like that on the floor? Because he might sneeze on us and give us a disease.” He wasn’t joking. He meant it. Then another policeman came out and hauled him in, probably realising that he was serving only to compound the embarrassment.
The young people stayed outside the station until the African man was dragged out, thrown into the van again, and driven off. At that point, one’s heart sinks at the thought of what might have come next. Suffice it to say that when he was hauled to court with great alacrity the very next morning, he pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers, even though it was he who was assaulted by them, as several eye-witnesses have confirmed in public and to the police last Tuesday. I can’t imagine that the police brought a doctor in to check him and record his injuries.
The police are now conducting an internal inquiry into the matter, and I hope for all our sakes that they take it seriously. I hope too that Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, who is nothing like his predecessor, will take note of the canker growing once again in our police force. I hope that he realises it is not only into the behaviour of the police that an inquiry should be made, but also into the summary court hearing by which a seemingly innocent man who was himself the victim of police violence and apparently illegal arrest, found himself pleading guilty to assault and sentenced.
Quick, before we become a banana republic again. Unfortunately, this is precisely the sort of thing that makes us suspect Nicholas Azzopardi was indeed beaten up during police interrogation. The police must understand that they have more to gain by exposing the truth and plenty to lose by trying to convince us that all is well when it very clearly is not.
This article is published in The Malta Independent today.
103 Comments Comment
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http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080702/local/advocates-concerned-over-police-violence-reports/
Daphne I only disagree with you on one point. ALL police so-called officers are thugs or potential thugs or thugs in the making with absolutely no distinction. Small men put in uniform become suddenly little Hitlers, arrogant, demi-gods
enjoying total protection from their superiors and ministers.
How many beatings/shootings/racist attacks/suspicious goings-on and downright criminal activity are we going to endure before getting enough courage to call a spade a spade ?
Purge the police corps I say Mr. Minister and no pussyfooting about telling us that most officers are OK – they all have the same mentality and apparent immunity
Disgraceful! That is all that can be said about this case. What is the police force coming to? We thought that the days when cops could beat the hell out of people for no reason whatsoever was over in 1987, but this phenomenom seems to be coming back!!
There is somthing else that we must mention, the bouncers (security men) do they have a licence to work as security, do they have any training (not just physically hurting people) What is the Police Commissioner doing about it
Reminds me of an incident where my wife was assaulted in front of our own minor children, by a policeman outside the St Julians Police station just because she partially obstructed an unmarked police-car while she nipped in to collect a take-away at McDonalds, the police on duty in the same station then refused to take a report from my wife about this assault, because they said they were too busy!
My children still fear the police till today and cower when they see any police in uniform.
Agree with you a 100% there.
I’m concerned with respect to comments such as the following, which appear regularly on our media: “If the Chamber of Advocates are really concerned with public perception on reports of violence by the police, please delve also on the violence experienced by the police which is never reported ranging from foul language to proper physical violence on them.”
Comments like these, I’m afraid, miss the issue at stake. If you don’t want foul language to be part and parcel of your job, then I suggest a career tending bonsai at Flower Power. Ever heard of a psychiatrist beating up (rather than simply restraining) a patient because the latter turned violent? Or a barman throwing a drink at a customer because the latter treated him badly?
Being a policeman entails working with people in situations that are often aggressive, insulting, and violent (calling the police is often the obvious reaction to any of the above). Police officers must be trained for this, and must accept it as an unfortunate – though inevitable – part of their job.
There are two issues to these incidents – both very worrying.
One is the violence itself which can never be acceptable, especially from the Police that are duty-bound to counter, not continue, violent attacks.
Then there is the racism which is rampant in our population, and even more so in the Police and the Army.
As a people who are a hotch-potch of genes (including black slaves and Jews) and varying hues of dark, our racism is shocking.
Come now, Daphne. I have been barred from entering countless clubs, and it was always by black bouncers (that’s standard all over Europe). Shall I cry racism?
[Moderator – It was probably because your shoes weren’t shiny enough. Maltese clubs have no such rules – they’ll let you in wearing flip-flops, shorts and a vest.]
The Police Commissioner ? Well he should round all the Police Corps around him and hand in to them a nice straight forward lecture
“Listen guys…we are Policemen, the community gave us (pay us!) the responsibility to protect them irrespective of creed, race or gender…24 hours a day!
Right, men you have to sweat out the 8 hours duty with no space for ‘errands’ …and by the time you clock out you should be so dead exhausted you won’t even have the energy for part-time jobs or other niceties If you feel you are not paid enough there remain two options ..Either seek out another job or work up ‘credentials’ with the public opinion and face Governments for a revaluation of salaries…”
“the Police Force expects from every cop 1814 % efficiency!!!!!!”
Try it Mr. Commissioner…hit for the good guys in the corps and work with them to purge the force…from undesirable, ‘naqa u inqum’, ‘hallieni indawwar Euro fil kwiet’, ‘ghala biebi’ elements.” I am paying taxes, as well to ‘feel’ protected. I am NOT.
Sorry, to dissappoint you Tri, but if you misbehave in a bar you’ll be booted out within minutes. Same goes with psychiatrists. If you’re violent you deserve to be beaten. You meet force with force. We need a strong police force not a bunch of sissies saying “can you please move along sir?”.
having worked in a hotel in Paceville for many years, and witnessed many such police assaults, it seems to me that there is a pattern to such assaults, which is not based on racism, but based on vulnerablity. It is obvious to me that the police usually target the weaker member of the incident, in other words, if the incident is betwen a man and a woman they would assault the woman, if the fight is between an old man and a gang of youths they would assualt the old man, and if the fight was betwen a “hamallu selvagg” and a “pulit” they would assault the “pulit”, if the fight was between a group of white men and a black immigrant they would take in the immigrant, in other words they take out the person who is least likely to offer resistance or the least likely to retaliate or take revenge later on, this is probably a reaction to their lack of support by the more superior members of the police force, or perhaps because of poor training, but I dont think it is based on skin colour per se.
“Joseph Borg” – yeah, right, that’s your name – next time you get poked in the ribs by some thug wearing a uniform (any thug, any uniform) or next time one of your relatives is bullied by one (been there, had that done) then talk.
And I’m not even talking about beatings here, just simple abuse.
Not all cops are thugs – anzi, the vast majority are not, but the very few who are, are screwing it up for their colleagues.
@Mr. Borg – “If you’re violent you deserve to be beaten”.
I was trying to think up of a smart comment in reply to your statement above, but I think it stands out enough on its own. Violent people deserve to be restrained, not beaten. There is a difference, you know.
@ Joseph Borg
it takes much more discipline to remain calm than join the fray or, perhaps, leg it.
@Joseph Borg,
You have the IQ of a peanut as demonstrated by your ridiculuous post. Are you calling British police sissies?
It is weak people who have to resort to violence and I assure you that nobody is going to be disappointed by what a racist twit like you has to say unless it’s to express disappointmnt as to how brutishely dumb some people can be!
it is about time that the topic you raised today is seen to and investigated seriously. police aggressiveness is a subject in itself and is dealt with very well by daphne.
on my part i really wish the commissioner would give thorough courses to his men, no exceptions to age and rank, and instill in them some proper manners on how to deal with us people. Most of them lack the basic skills of communication and if you ask me they should never have qualified to become policemen. but once they are in they have to be trained in what comes natural to most other people. i really think that the police commissioner can succed in this effort. after all even the local hamburger companies manage to instill a sense of courtesy in their staff so why shouldn’t he?
with regards to bouncers, they seem to be governed by a code of their own. my boys are really terrified of them and they do tell me stories of how they attack people savagely even when incidents occur just outside the disco/bar,with no direct impact on what is going on inside their premises.
it is a matter of asking – who is checking the bouncers?
@ Moderator: My point exactly. It wasn’t because I was white (well, non-black) and they were black.
Policemen, mostly are thugs. Period.
I had a friend who stopped to help an office colleague after she was involved in a nasty accident, (car complete write off, children at the back in shock etc etc )VERY OBVIOUSLY not her fault as there was sludge on the road, causing her to skidd on to a bus-stop near which people were queuing. Now, imagine the scenario. The friend went to see if he could do anything to help and hears this policeman (thug is a mild one here) screaming that the driver should admit liability, or she faces prosecution. The friend asked the policeman to be gentle and considerate(yeah, some hope) and allow the lady to at least sit down on a wall, gather her breath and look after the kids. The cherry on the cake: the friend was had up for OBSTRUCTION of justice !!!
He reported the matter to the police commissioner, the thug was given a mild warning but court procedures continued anyway. Regardless of reliable witnesses who attested to the story, the magistrate (guess who he was), instead of admonishing the police officer (and his mates who ganged up together when they gave evidence) decided in his infinite wisdom to pronounce that no decision could be taken because of conflicting evidence !! Justice when it comes to these police incidents has become a farce.
What would anyone here do with an uninvited guest who, after insisting on staying in one’s home, proceeds to misbehave? As if it is not already bad enough having to put up with misbehaving family members because they are family. :(
Most police officers (especially traffic police) think that just by wearing a uniform think they have the godforsaken right to vent out their aggression and frustration on others. What about the incident when a traffic policeman tried to strangle his wife with a mobile adaptor wire? Ok he apparantely is mentally unstable and is being treated at Mount Carmel but what was he doing as a police officer anyway in such a condition? If this police officer was provoked in any way by some Tom,Dick or Harry on the street, goodness knows what his reaction would have been.
I remember an incident I once encountered with a traffic policeman along the road to Luqa once, when he made me drive to the side of the road only to tell me by shouting in my face that I had abruptly driven from one lane to another, then when he realized that there was a toddler on the back seat he told me to drive off and “watch it” or I’ll be in trouble. It’s not the correction which upset me but the attitude. Personally I think that most of these men are out on one big masochistic ego trip.
Mr Joseph Borg, You have obviously figured out policing. I imagine that you perceive politeness to be the stuff of sissies. In that case, I’d rather be a sissy. After the initial firm politeness, there is a difference between restraining and being violent. Which psychiatrists have you been to, Sir, that beat you up if you are violent?
Many police officers enter the police force because they are of a certain height and of a certain physique. they don’t enter the force because they are of a certain degree of intelligence. Infact, all the lower rankings of the police force require only man-power, not brain-power. When you put a bunch of “all brawn no brain” lads together, and send them off to Paceville, the sheer fact that these lads are out together wearing a uniform is going to cause these same lads to try and show off their machismo. Since they know that they’ll get in trouble for beating up too many white nationals, they resort to picking on the underdogs – the Africans.
This said, there are also numerous cases when police attack Maltese people. Granted, most of these Maltese people are usually rather drunk and acting very stupidly – but still, only a savage beats up someone else for no valid reason. A valid reason, in my mind, for beating someone would be if that someone harmed a close family member grievously. If someone seriously harmed a parent of mine, or a partner of mine, I wouldn’t think twice before bashing their head. Actually, come to think of it, I would think twice, as I wouldn’t fancy being locked up in a cell for inflicting grievous bodily harm.
It seems that several members of the police force do not have the brains to avoid using violence, especially in such an uncivilised and barbaric manner. These people make me sick. I can’t stand big fat bullies wearing a blue shirt, who, just because of the fact that they have a mass of at least 90kg, beat up someone of smaller proportions.
The bouncers are even worse – when God gave a large powerful body to a brain the size of a walnut, he must have had dinosaurs in his mind. That’s what violent bouncers are – dinosaurs. Stupid, violent, dinosaurs.
Go buy yourself a brain you dumb animals.
@ M. Bormann
As I say and keep on saying – you cannot just dismiss atrocious behaviour of bouncers/policemen as just ‘stupid’ dinosaur behaviour. Bouncers are well renowned for ganging up
on weak members of the crowd and carry out systematic beatings
or robberies. I have heard of rapes as well. Please people
open your eyes – Bocca, never you mind excusing such behaviour
by just saying that not all policemen are brutes. They are ALL
of one frame of mind. Little people in uniforms – Liberate Nos
Domine
The police force (and the army too) are a nedded evil. A country can’t be run without them. However I find the concept that a group of people, thugs or otherwise, have the right to use force on the rest of society quite disconcerting. What, in my opinion, governments and parliaments should do is to keep the police and tha army under constant control. If they are given a free hand and if their limits are blurred, it is likely that abuse would ensue.
@fxa & maryanne. Many bouncers are police officers who work as bouncers on a part-time basis….everyone knows how kind and courteous (sic.) bouncers are………
Unfortunately law enforcement jobs in Malta (police & wardens mostly) tend to attract the wrong type of people. Many a time it is those with very limited job prospects who join the lower ranks of the police force and our beloved local warden force.
Although one cannot generalise, these people are more likely to lack basic manners, hold prejudices and resort to physical violence in their personal lives. By not providing these people with the adequate training and tools to perform the job well, they will tackle situations as best they know.
The fact that such incidents pass by unnoticed and these people received the full backing of their superiors only serves to strengthen the beleif that they can do as they please.
Dear Commissioner … we want answers!
and to those of you justifying the unprovoked use of physical force …. get a life!
@ Joseph Borg. Are you sure the sessions you’re attending are at the Psychiatrist? If I were you I’d check, he/she might be taking you for a ride :)
@Sybil,
Do you think or reason at all or are you perhaps drunk when you post comments? I don’t believe anybody who can read can be quite so stupid!
We are not talking about a private home here but a public street, were the gentleman who was beaten up had as much right as you to be.
And just for the sake of your pathetic attempt at an argument, even if it were in someone’s house, you STILL have no right to hit a handcuffed person.
By any chance are you one of those vile, beastly cowards?
Most of the comments above are against the police force, so I think it’s only fair to spare a thought for the good men and women amongst them.
It is simply not true that all policemen are bullies. Like everyone, I’ve had my brushes with the law, especially with traffic police, and I must say that the very vast majority are quite understanding. And if you compare policemen with wardens…..
I emphatise (but DO NOT CONDONE) with the way policeman act sometimes, especially in places like Paceville where outlaw behaviour is the norm. I challenge any one of you to spend months doing the rounds in places like these and not loose your cool one time or another.
In my opinion, not one of you would manage, the reason being you ARE NOT TRAINED to be in such high-tension situations. And I guess that this is the problem here – TRAINING.
Someone mentioned British police – I know that these guys are trained to handle their emotions in volatile situations. Are Maltese policeman trained and selected accordingly, or, as someone aptly put it, the only selection criteria for Maltese police men and women is height?
After the 1987 elections, the Interior Minister Guido DeMarco issued a stern warning to the police force: police brutality would not be tolerated.
And it stopped, even if the SMU morphed into the SAG, who were likewise excitable by tear gas, baton tactics and SWAT operations.
This was of course a delicate period in the history of the Malta police force – demoralised by ‘defeat’, led by Col. Joe Spiteri in an acting capacity, then commander of the armed forces – the demi-god mentality that had formed over decades was suddenly in shatters. This marked an important milestone. For after decades of undisclosed police brutality dating back to colonial times, the police in Malta were finally tamed – even before the British police, since cases of police brutality during interrogations still occurred at the time in Britain.
The road for DeMarco’s ultimate success had in fact already been paved, partly by himself. For by the middle of 1986 Commissioner Pullicino had himself issued warnings to this effect. And this change, occurring over a period of less than one year, was a direct consequence of Malta’s own ‘civil war’ (in our own way, of course). The politicisation of the police force led to a clear us-and-them polarity and PN-leaning lawyers started filing complaints in court. Victims of abuse were not afraid anymore to speak out. Others made false allegations of their own if they thought it would help them in Court. Meanwhile, magistrates and judges discontinued the ancient ‘prassi’ of ignoring allegations by ‘criminals who deserved no better’. The police force itself had fallen out with the Establishment – unheard of in recent history.
So, to cut it short, it was this new awareness, sparked off by the party in opposition against the other in government, that led to Pullicino’s internal warnings and ultimately to its consolidation by DeMarco’s no-nonsense approach.
This being accomplished, Maltese human rights lawyers did a Fukuyama and proclaimed police brutality in Malta dead – for ever! Whereas today we hardly find human rights lawyers, back then even Tonio Borg was a human rights lawyer.
Left unattended, power structures tend to consolidate and recreate their internal norms and sub-rules, which is one-way traffic leading to the demi-god mentality, whereby justifications of all sorts reinforce the ‘recognition of the fact’ that ‘ikollhom bzonn daqtejn’, especially those who show signs of disrespect (without the status to go with it) and alien ‘low-key’ blood (who are insignificant others with no one to speak on their behalf).
When such brutal acts are ignored by the media, civil society, politicians and the criminal justice system as a whole, they are indirectly being condoned. It is a way of telling the police to go on for they know better. This was the case before the 80s. Indeed, in the 60s and 50s such matters were never disclosed publicly; no official records, no court rulings, no media awareness – it never happened. But I personally heard some horrific stories coming down the old grapevine – acts of horror that were already unthinkable in the 70s and 80s.
But this is not all. There is yet another very critical level of awareness.
What will happen in Malta when one day the 48-hour detention limit is suspended for ‘exceptional cases’ as has happened in the US and the UK, and is happening elsewhere in Europe?
Will our lawyers and ‘civil libertarians’ dose off as they did when imported anti-laundering legislation reversed the age-old principle concerning onus of proof? (‘Min jallega jrid jipprova’ – not when charged with breaches of the money-laundering act it’s not!).
Will they nod as they did when the ‘war on drugs’ suspended the requirement for one to be reasonably suspected of having committed a crime in order to be searched personally or have one’s property searched? (The war on drugs is a farce on its own and I will not venture there. But remember State rape? Cavity searches? How disgusting! How could we let them do that to our children! Does it still happen? Or was the shock and awe enough to thwart them? Today, it may not be happening in police tents to party-going teenagers en masse, but it still happens in different circumstances.)
Will civil society again be duped into believing this time that sacrificing our freedoms to the ‘war on terror’ is a necessary evil that the Nanny State is obliged to force us into doing before becoming Big Brother?
The Secret Service, phone-tapping, Internet surveillance – they all form part of modern day despotism. These concerns should be at par with police brutality. Malta is not a banana republic anymore, it has again joined the Western powers and like them it will one day have a more despotic regime to contend with. Let’s just hope there are no terr’rsts hiding under Maltese beds.
@Republic Man
“It is obvious to me that the police usually target the weaker member of the incident, in other words, if the incident is betwen a man and a woman they would assault the woman”.
Not always… i know of one who chose to become the overprotective guardians of the woman. A married knight in shining armour who then fathers her child
I once witnessed the police stopping two Maltese guys beating an African person. Then they proceeded on to arrest these two guys and at the same time, they called for medical help for this poor guy.
But this did not get reported by the media. I wonder who is the racist here – whether it is the police or the media (blogs, articles, coloumns, you catch my drift…) that filters what is ‘important’!
Violence must always be condemned! There are various types of violence not just physical violence.
Many times various posters in this site practiced violence and I must say, very often it was much worse then physical violence.
It is very evident the many here find it extremely difficult to practice what they preach.I simply pity them.
David Buttigieg Thursday, 3 July 2055hrs
@Sybil,
Do you think or reason at all or are you perhaps drunk when you post comments? I don’t believe anybody who can read can be quite so stupid!
We are not talking about a private home here but a public street, were the gentleman who was beaten up had as much right as you to be.
And just for the sake of your pathetic attempt at an argument, even if it were in someone’s house, you STILL have no right to hit a handcuffed person.
By any chance are you one of those vile, beastly cowards?
You are so busy passing gratuitous insults , allegations and pointing fingers at others for what you may think they mean, that you do not give yourself time enough to stop and try and figure out what another may be actually trying to say., given the chance of course,
Finally , my dear friend, did it occur to you that your particular way of putting your point of view forward nay be considered by some is a form of abuse and bashing, though not of the physical sort?
@Sybil
And did it occur to you that by defending you are condoning? No Sybil, I have no patience for vile beasts who abuse their uniform or those who defend them!
The immigration problem in Malta is a huge one about which everyone in the country has his own opinion and solution about, whether good or bad.
Having said that, there is no excuse at all for anyone, let alone Police Officers, to beat anyone up for any reason, be it skin colour, language, height, etc etc. There are loads of fights in PV every weekend, doest this mean that the cops must beat the living daylights out of every person who gets into the stupidest of quarrels. They are there to stop the fighting, and send people on their ways. If this does not work, they should just arrest the persons involved and take them to cool off, not beat them up that way. What happened to the use of pepper spray by the way? I thought all policemen were going to be equipped with their own supply whilst on duty.
This time it was this “black” man. Next time it could be a “white” maltese who happened to find a cop having a bad day……….
@David Buttigieg
Yes, look at how the British are today. :-) You can’t walk without being mugged or raped. Certain people do not obey “bil kelma it tajba” and thats it. For such people to submit, force has to be used. Yes, you can turn your other cheek if you want to. Its not my face. The English people in their endeavours to be politically correct and to play the gentleman have been screwed, period. The English now are at the mercy of criminals nowadays.
Look for yourself. I address facts.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE6DD1438F930A25751C0A96F948260
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7489039.stm
Yes I agree, that certain officers need to learn some etiquette, but the right of a police officer to use weaponry and force to maintain law and order has to remain.
Otherwise the law is not respected.
And no I’m not a racist. It could have been a Chinese, Japanese, French or whatever. It would not have made any difference to me, as long as the threat has been extinguished effectively by the police.
A racist would rather take the law in his own hands, something which I do not do. I pay the taxes, so the police can protect us from vile criminals roaming our streets. Now if they aren’t protecting us enough, that is a different matter entirely….
And by the way, throwing insults at people because they have a view different to yours shows how narrow minded you are. You’re just as bad as those racists whom you despise so much.
@Tri
You don’t reason with a criminal. You act with a criminal.
I suggest you watch Lockdown on National Geographic. It shows how criminals show be treated effectively. I’ve always admired the American way of handling such thugs.
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/lockdown
David Buttigieg Friday, 4 July 1208hrs
@Sybil
And did it occur to you that by defending you are condoning? No Sybil, I have no patience for vile beasts who abuse their uniform or those who defend them!
A bit like saying “I am all for peace and I will beat the crap out of anyone who dares disagree with me”.
:)
David Buttigieg Friday, 4 July 1208hrs
@Sybil
“I have no patience for vile beasts who abuse their uniform or those who defend them!”
Neither do I, regardless of whether they are in or out of uniforms, or using crucifixes, Korans, party flags, the human rights charter, school pencils or keyboards to use as weapons on fellow humans ,regardless of the colour., or lack of it.
“Vile Beasts” … So now police are ‘beasts’? Why not ‘vile policemen’?!
I do hope that this ‘vile language’ comes to an end!
Well said Kev.
I think that the situation here in Malta is a bit ‘unbalanced’.
Most of the illegal emigrants are young Arab men , who crave for our lifestyle: going out for a drink , meeting and marrying a girl without ‘paying’ a hefty sum to her father (it is still common practice in Arab countries) , attending for concerts etc. They are away from home and have no relatives to ‘control’ them.
They are earning a living here and they mingle with Maltese workers who tell them about our night life.It goes without saying that they go to Paceville.
The bouncers : I saw QTY 4 bouncers kicking a drunken Maltese/English half drunk man , as soon as we left they ATTACKED this person again in the street.I was told that this is a common occurrence in Paaceville
The Police :were visible by their absence , while the gorillas were doing their ‘job’. The police were seen when ‘the coast was clear’.
Should Policemen be offered free drinks (even non-alcoholic) and food while performing their duties in Paceville by outlets which have bouncers? Is not this a form of ‘protection money’?
The public perception of these emigrants is that they are filthy, and could be potential criminals , suffering from infectious diseases.I worked with these people in the hotel industry and know what I am saying most of them are reliable workers and of a good character. There could be some remote justification in this perception , but it can never justify this apartheid in our country.
Night spots should be open to all. Trouble makers should be escorted while the security cameras are recording the whole ‘incident’ and where bouncers are employed a policeman should be on duty with them on a random shift bases paid by the night spot employing the bouncers .
Dear Daphne you mentioned the British police. You forgot to mention the shooting and killing of an Argentine man. Do you remember now? That”s for polite British policmen.
The worst part of this is the fact that apparently it had to be a foreign student who stood up to the jungle police. I wonder how many times this happened before and people just kept going on their business. Regarding racism, although I haven’t been to Paceville frequently over the last years – i’ve seen a number of instances where black (african? european? american? who knows?) people were rejected entry to bars or clubs. Although it *might* have been returning problematic patrons, I suspect it was more about prejudice. Darba minnhom (bil-Malti ghax tal-misthija) waqt li l-pulizija arrestaw wiehed fit-triq (x’kien gara ezatt ma nafx u nahseb li hadd ma kien jaf) il-folla qabdet iccapcap!!!
I’m currently living in a northern country where I probably look as dark in the eyes of the locals as a Sudanese would look in Malta – and I cannot explain the anger, embarassment and degradation I feel when I suspect I’m being prejudged or treated differently to the blonder people (it does happen!). Perhaps I shouldn’t complain – it is truly a case of “Kieku l-gemel jara hotobtu…” – not in the sense of me as an individual, but me as part of the nation. I’m usually very proud of my country for a myriad of reasons – but these kind of stories spoil it all…
There is obviously no defence in the above case as described by Daphne.
But I still don`t agree with those posters who insist all police are thugs. I`m sure we`ve all come across policemen who were decent.
I feel their attitude to Africans has developed since they have been forced by circumstances to act as guards of the illegal immigrants. They end up having to face insults and more and definately have no training in how to deal with these men locked up with nothing to do who must be feeling desperate.
It`s no excuse for them to turn to violence, of course, and is not justified. However, unless something is done at the immigrants centres I hear similar episodes will occur.
Much has been said about the new MLP Leader. I believe it is time to divert. I strongly believe that the PN should start planning for the future. The time is right.
Dr. L. Gonzi has achieved all. He is getting old and all wrinkled. His performance after the general elections, to say the least, is very boring. To add insult to injury, the election of Dr. P. Borg Olivier as General Secretary of the PN, wasn’t what Dr. L Gonzi expected. It was a set back to Dr. L Gonzi.The PM and his clan had different plans. It is time for a change.
The PN needs to start thinking about a younger, more sympathetic leader who laughs only when necessary. Dr. Mario Demarco is the future for both the PN, in particular and Malta in general.
I strongly believe that with Dr. M. Demarco on one side and Dr. J. Muscat on the other, Malta will have a lot to gain.
@ Peter Mucat (i.e. whoever you are)
You must be hallucinating!!
@ P Shaw;
Remember that the silly season is with us now.
:)
@Kev
Very interesting post about police brutality, but whilst I am sure police brutality had in fact been around for a long time, the levels it reached under a labour administration and specifically with Lawrence Pullicino at its head had never been seen before and hopefully never will again.
Armed with hindsight and court judgements, Pullicino’s warnings sound particularly hollow. Apart from his conviction in the nardu debono affair, he is on record elbowing policemen out of the way in order to ‘show them how to extract a confession’.
What I find exceedingly interesting is that notwithstanding all this, the MLP continued to use him as a consultant. So quite frankly, in my case, the statement that “Alfred Sant cleaned the MLP of violent and corrupt elements’ will continue to be taken with a huge pinch of salt.
Not all police are thugs but most of them are besides being cowards for bullying and beating up defenceless foreigners. Now if Il-Fusellu were alive it would be the police who would be beaten up. The same goes for the so called ‘army’ who beat up immigrants indiscriminately in detention centres. One day it will be them who are beaten up. What comes around goes around.
The rampant racism in Malta has to stop! From bar owners refusing entry to black or Arabic looking people to the forces of order beating them up. This is one of the reasons I voted to join the EU – so cases like these would hopefully be dealt with and highlighted.
You can run but you can’t hide – your actions will catch up with you. And this goes for all the far-right supporters and hunters too. Believe me, your days are numbered and I am counting down to your day of judgement. And yes, this is my real name and I don’t care who knows it.
MikeC, maybe you should do a little research in re the Nardu Debono case.
– Let us forget, foe a moment that he was caught red-handed placing a powerful bomb outside Pullicino’s door.
– The man who actually confessed to killing Debono (Supt Gejtu Pace, a well-known PN supporter with a violent temper) was given a presidential pardon and retained in the force. (which raises the question – who really benefited from Nardu’s death?)
– Pullicino, who was found guilty ONLY of being present and failing to stop Pace got 15 years in jail.
In my opinion, Pullicino was a political prisoner – no more and no less.
And this doesn’t only happen in Malta. On three seperate occasions I was stopped in Moscow and St.Petersburg by the racist police and asked for documentation just because of the way I look (Mediterranian – if you can call it that) and no one else was stopped (fair skinned locals) so I know exactly how it feels to be treated this way. My greatest wish is for the whole Maltese police force and army to go on holiday together to Russia so they can get a taste of their own medicine and see how it feels to be treated like s++t. In all probablity these defenders of the peace have never even gone abroad so they can’t imaqgine that something similar could happen to them. In their own small minds they believe that the world revolves around Malta, that they are right and the rest of the world is wrong.
@ P. Shaw or who ever you maybe … what I posted is today’s reality! Nothing more nothing less!
Of course ‘your compliment’ fits you much better. Keep it up and refrain from buying any mirrors.
Once again @P. Shaw and his likes:
Those who used to say that Dr George Borg Olivier could never be toppled and ousted by the EFA clan [who later anointed Dr Gonzi, President of the Catholic action, to the position of PN leader] meeting in a Valletta office at night, were also told they were hallucinating! But the hallucination turned out to be a sad reality!! Will Dr Paul Borg Olivier ignore and totally forget this attack on his GREAT UNCLE or does he carry this historical wound? He was a baby perhaps but parents and relatives do tell the family truth to young ones! Al buon intenditor!
Also is it hallucination to say that Dr Gonzi preferred Mr Charlo Bonnici – and by a long shot! Do you think Dr Paul Borg Olivier does not know this? Is it a know fact to everyone except to him?
Finally, honestly who do you see as better than Dr Mario De Marco to lead the PN soon. Will he forget that EFA lobbied strongly against his father Dottor Guido – who would have made a better Prime Minister? Please stop resisting the De Marco family in this blog. They are intelligent, valid people with definite leadership qualities.
@ John Borg
‘Yes, look at how the British are today. :-) You can’t walk without being mugged or raped. ‘
???????????? say what??????
funny i hadn’t realised that all the british tourists coming to malta are all victims of rapes and muggings. notto mention all the Maltese whocome back from their UK holidays with battle wounds and bandages.
Come off it! yes, things are bad, in certain parts of the britain, but for heaven’s sake put things in perspective. I have a sneaking feeling that on a per capita basis, a Maltese person is more likely to encounter a violent situation at home then in the UK. obviously this is guess work, but if someone can lay hands on any statistics it would be intersting to see, how many people are involved in criminal activities in Malta as a percentage of the pupulation compared with other countries. I’m guessing the answers cvould make for interesting reading.
And please don’t blame it on the foreigners.
@ Peter Muscat : A young leader said that he is going to see to it that the three hundred and something GONZIPN promises are implemented . Now can you just imagine Dr Gonzi in opposition making a statement like this (?): “I will see to it that the surcharge will be halved by the MLP administration , and that the ditch under Putirjal will be dug out so that boats will pass from Grand Harbour to Marsamxett harbour. ”
This is exactly Dr Sant’s line of thinking: first he was all out against the EU membership because it would harm the CITIZEN but after losing the referendum (He said he won it) , he accepted the”people’s decision” even though it was a bad decision which will harm the workers.
This line of thinking is opportunistic. It does not convince me.
When I hear Dr Gonzi stating that he will see to it that the MLP program is implemented , I would be the first one to call for his immediate resignation , I voted for something different.
In other words , if I were a Labour supporter , I would have challenged Dr Muscat’s statement and called for his immediate resignation.
@ John Schembri … You can find 101 reasons, as GonziPN supporter , why you should ask Dr. L Gonzi to resign.
Nevertheless, you twisted all and run away from my genuine thoughts: that it is the right time to replace a ‘very old and tired PM, who can’t deliver’ and Dot. Mario Demarco is the future! Dott Mario as Capo and Dott Paul as GS will be a great for one and all.
May I remind you that Dottor Guido was loyal to Dottor Giogio and did not participate in the “Kolp tal-partit”!
Now their descendants Dott Mario and Dott Paul have come back with a very noicy bang, to avenge Giorgio Duido. Have no doubt about that.
Id-Dnub ma jorqodx.
@ Peter Muscat , even my thoughts are genuine. I do not care much about who backstabbed whom, I don’t believe in hierarchies , as far as I know Dr Gonzi was not part of the “Kolp tal-Partit”. I judge people by their actions and by the way they reason things out.
Unlike you , I don’t find Gonzi ” old and tired”, and perhaps he has your same opinion about Mario De Marco , he made him PS for tourism in his ministry.
Genuinely I cannot find any indication that Gonzi preferred Charlo’ , and if it is the case it shows how free the party councillors are in the PN. There is no ‘magna tal-partit’ working against anyone.
I was hoping (against hope) that the MLP elect George Abela so that we could have another safe pair of hands to lead this country.
Unfortunately we have to wait until September to wait for Joseph to go into action , you see he is young and it takes a lot to prepare the blessed VAT report for the EU .We all know that he has to stay as an MEP the full legislature to be pensionable . He thinks he can take us for a ride.
Would you like the GONZIPN program to be implemented up to every detail?That is what Joseph wants.
If your answer is “yes” , then why did not the MLP supporters vote for it?
If your answer is “no” , then why shouldn’t the MLP supporters protest with their young leader?
Dr Gonzi is the greatest asset of the PN , he is not passe’.
The MLP have a good wine which probably has not matured enough in the cask , it was bottled in the wrong type of bottle and its fermentation phase is still ongoing. Would the bottle or the cork withstand the pressure created by this fermentation ?
@MikeC – but how would you know that “the levels it reached under a labour administration and specifically with Lawrence Pullicino” increased?
Think about it. If no one spoke in the 50s, 60s and 70s how would anyone know? As I said, ‘it never happened’ – and yet it did. Perhaps you meant it increased quantity-wise not qualitatively. One can never tell. But I can tell you it stopped in Pullicino’s time and reenforced by DeMarco some months later.
Joseph Borg: there is nothing remotely “cissy” about policemen who get people to move along by asking them politely to do so. It takes a good deal of authority, which many of our policemen do not have, which is why they resort to violence and aggression.
@John Schembri … You trying to change the subject since you are uncomfortable and all you can talk about is fermentation – which can turn sour!!
I insist that Dottor Guido had total loyalty to Dottor Giorgio and he did not participate in the Kolp ta’ Partit in the Valletta office at night. On the other hand, EFA was not the greatest admirer of Dott Giorgio and, when he pushed aside Dott Guido, later preferred Dott Gonzi – when Mr John Dalli was much better.
Incidentally Mr Dalli also spoke of backstabbing in the party! It seems as if you are the only one who does not know that Dott Gonzi preferred Mr Charlo Bonnici and NOT Dott Paul Borg Olivier as Secretary General.
It is also clear that Dott Gonzi had no choice but to make Dott Mario De Marco Parliamentary Secretary. Do you think he wants to promote the De Marco or Borg Olivier family voluntarily.
Do not be so naive, Mr Schembri. And please answer with good arguments NOT with fermentation!!
Maybe our dear Anglu Farrugia can look into police violence! hehe he does have the experience.
@ John Schembri ….. Mr John Schembri, f’gieh kemm hemm, try to understand my simple message u hallik mill-fermentazzjoni!! Look at the Times photo today under title “Muscat Visits Digital Arts Expo”. In this photo you can see a young, fresh, smiling politician interested in IT – and everbody knows that since a younger age, IT was something he loved.
Now find a recent photo of Dott Gonzi. He is 58 and looks 78 with those huge wrinkles. He knows nothing about the future of IT [not even about the present]. Older politicians should make way for younger, more energetic and modern ones.
My argument all the way was that it was a good idea to have Dott Borg Olivier as new SG [he is also very keen on IT and looks fresh and handsome]. But as new leader, Dott Mario De Marco is the best in the party and the sooner he takes over, the better for the party and the country – which is totally bored!
Has Peter Muscat got nothing better to do? If he’s trying to goad someone, it’s certainly not working!
@ Pete : Gonzi builds computers as a hobby.
@Peter Muscat
1st of all, don’t know if JM is an IT lover – at least, he seems to have nominated Chris Cardona (if technology encompasses IT, that is) instead of Leo Brincat; until recent times, the latter was renowned as not even knowing what a mouse was!
As for Gonzi not knowing what IT is, then you’re very very wrong my friend. Close friends tell me he is more than capable of teaching you a lesson or two on the subject.
@John Schembri
Are you that politically ignorant? Of course JM insists that all promises in the PN manifesto are carried out. Like for example the reduction in income tax IN THE NEXT BUDGET. Its useless that the GonziPN carnival float now cries crocodile tears that oil is so expensive. They knew this already. And they won the election. So now, dear GonziPN, hand over our money.
@ Peter : to tell you the truth I never liked Giorgio and never admired Guido, People like me do not care who did what to whom any more , all we want are results .At long last we have someone who gets us results , and takes care of the details.
I am all for young people in our parliament , but having a leader and a potential PM without any senior experience in the party is proving fatal.I believe that a politician should reach the top gradually , like in wine making. I don’t judge by pictures or double barreled hierarchical surnames .
If I judge by looking at pictures I would have voted for the Wella girl on the container in the last elections and would have got a 60 year old computer-illiterate PM.
Let us assume Gonzi preferred Charlo’ (even though you did not prove it) , but he got Paul , this ,for me is an assurance that Gonzi is not the PN , in other words he is not like Alfred or like Dom.
@ John Schembri … You truly amaze me!However, your last post helped me to understand better your writings and political obessions .
Finally you admitted that you did not like Dottor Giorgio or Dottor Guido – the fathers of Malta’s democracy and independence. Shame on YOU for disrespecting such patriots and heros!
Nevertheless, you now you won’t have a choice but to put up with their valid relatives Dottor Mario and Dottor Paul who, unfortunately for the Gonzians, are young, clever, capable and with good leadership qualities. Above all, they get along well together.
Together they will clean up the PN of Mistragate, Copygate etc. and make it glorious again.
Are you now ashamed of GonziPN as your party’s trade mark?
@ Mike C…did PN get rid of tal-gakketta l-blue? not that I know……
@ jenny….actually eddie and de marco commissioned anglu Farrugia to investigate into police abuses after PN got elected in 1987…..
police did not become thugs when Pullicino became commissioner…did everyone forget about Vivian de Gray?!?!
@ John Schembri
Gonzi builds computers as a hobby?!! Yes but of wood and running on coal. His real hobby is enjoying inventing new and higher taxes. Also, when talking to a group of children, he told them that his hobby had always been gazing at the world from the sky.
Also what was wrong with Dottor Giorgio and Dottor Guido for you to dislike them? Real Nationalists respect them and old timers remember them with admiration. Does a leader have to be President of the Catholic Action for you to admire him?
@amrio
I make mistakes but I don’t write articles in TMI as I don’t like presumption. Also, yes, putting extra words in your expressions is indeed a mistake. Amrio, please don’t defend the indefensible!
Ah, Peter,Peter, you still don’t get it. You chastise John Schembri for not liking Dottor Giorgio and Dottor Guido.
You actually tell him: ‘Shame on YOU for disrespecting such patriots and heros’
Perhaps i should explain. Most people who voted GonziPN did so because they did not like what they saw in the Labour Party and saw a PN party that could still produce results. what we did not vote for is heroes!
Politics i snot about heroes. it is a rough, cynical,hypocritical game, and if you haven’t woken up to that fact yet,then it helps me understand your need to idolise politicians. Are we talking to an acne-scarred teenager here or what?
@ Peter : As I have already written , I don’t give a hoot about people with double barreled names or who had their great uncles or fathers in the party leadership.I like people who can stand on their two feet alone without the backing of their relatives.
Just to let you know , I do not consider myself a nationalist even though I always voted nationalist .
Would you call someone democratic if he did not allow opposition papers to be read in public hospitals, or opposed the vote for women?
I am not putting up with Mario & Paul , to tell you the truth I like them both. And if JPO is found guilty of a crime , he should resign …. and life goes on ” imut papa u jilhaq iehor”.
BTW did you check about who is the silent partner of a developer who is constructing on a chunk of what used to be good arable land in Luqa Village? In my opinion this is scandalous and we need to have an explanation of what is going on at MEPA. Should we call this Luqa-gate or DNA-gate?
Peter Muscat is the personification of the Labour mentality.
No wonder they are so gaullable, and that the Labour leaders and administration got away with murder, so to speak. No wonder the Labour Party never got any respite. They do not dare to question their so called leadership. They just clap hyterically, and are impressed so easily.
Peter Muscat: shouldn’t you be hard at work preparing your defence, now that the police have charged you with trying to blackmail David Agius about what you choose to call the Copygate Scandal? And why do you have such a problem using your real name? It’s not like we don’t know your comments come from Jo Said’s IP address.
No, P. Shaw: Peter Muscat isn’t Labour. He’s just plain nuts. He calls himself a “former PN activist”, which is why the only historical figures he has any time for in the PN are George Borg Olivier and thank-god-hewasn’t-elected-PN-leader Demarco. He spent the last election campaign with his lips stuck to Sant’s backside, and then in the last few days before polling-day, he swore allegiance to AD. A nutter, pure and simple.
@ John Schembri … “Would you call someone democratic if he did not allow opposition papers to be read in public hospitals, or opposed the vote for women?” .. You could have added that going to work at a government office with the Orrizont risked your job!
I never expected this from someone who claimed he always voted NP! You can add much more to that .. eg .. voting NO for minimum wage, voting NO for introduction of annual bonus, voting NO for introducing old age pensions, voting No for welfare assistance, voting NO for creating Air Malta, Voting NO on education for all, voting NO for 18 year old right to vote,The list is endless.
But the icing of all this was the Pn’s behind the scenes manoeuvres and unlimited approval and on many occasions support by the PN in trying to fulfil Mons. Gonzi’s plans to suffocate the MLP.Let us not forget that PN’s tried everything in collaboration with the ecclesiastical authorities to wipe out the MLP in the late 50s and early 60s.
JPO condemned himself and it is shameful for the PN in still having him in their fold. Fullstop.
By the way did you mean the silent partner behind the prposed development of the Ulysses Lodge at ramla l-Hamra?
@ P. Shaw ….” Labour leaders and administration got away with murder, so to speak.” If you drop ” so to speak”, your statement will fit exactly to the PN x-Leaders and various Administrations.!And I am not kidding.
DCG … are your obsessions getting out of bounds. Jo Said or whom you imply I am , I do not know and THERE IS NO WAY I AM USING HIS COMPUTER.
You are making a BIG MISTAKE in accusing me of being someone I do not know or never ever met.
I AM GOZITAN and Very PROUD OF BEING GOZITAN!Never been accused of anything in my life and been to court only once as a witness.
Giovanna, Anton, Justyne, Chris and Fredrick the Five Gozitan MPs know me very well and have their respect as I respect them all.All are my friends.
I know you made a geuine mistake but it still hurts when you identified me to such whatever.You do owe me a geuine apology.
NB:: I AM I and my IP is a fixed IP … MALTANET IP. Please check even with maltanet ( you haver my persmission) and apologise publicly for your damn accusations.
If not convinced you can send me prvt e-mail and I will certainly send you all information you need about myself and even a photo if you want to.
Apologise please. Still I wish you the best in life and after.
@ Moderator .. you have my permission to pass over me e-mail address to who ever you want to or who asks for it.
I can accept all ‘compliments’ but I NEVER accept of being whom I am not.
If someone wants to go public all he has to do is post the details himself. There is no need to ask the moderator to do it for him.
@ Daphne
One down, two to go!!
@ cikki … Daphne is the host and has all right to kick me out. I do accept that. But I won’t run away of my own free will.
I might soon take a rest since once again I might be away from WONDERFUL GOZO for about a week.
@ Peter Muscat or whoever you are: I choose the better of two evils , plain and simple.
By the way , I hate those people who tried to bribe Guze’ Abela in the 70’s , and were sent to JAIL.
It seems that it runs in the family!
Xi dwejjaq fik!
@ peter
why the caps for WONDERFUL GOZO ? is it because you think that Malta is far away and you need to shout?
So when are you leaving…again?
I’ll put the champagne on chill.
Oh damn, there i go showing my true Tal-Pepe colours again. I should have said sparkling wine. Sorry Frans.
@ John Schembri … Might agree with you about two evils but do no share your opinion about your choice.
You should remind all here the attempt to by PN supporters to ‘bribe’ two Gozitan MP’s to cross the floor in those distant years you referred to.
Thanks for borrowing my compliment that I delivered in your direction days ago.
@ chris … Maybe tal-“PIPI” fits you better! By the way if you are interested I got a property at Sliema Rd Kappara, which I soon put on the market.
@ Peter : it was in the hay day of your hero Giorgio, when those events which u and I vividly remember , things which nobody should be proud of.
By the way you write , I can tell you are permanently drunk or even worse. You need help, and I am serious.I am not going to tease u any more for your own sake , whoever u r.
Take care.
@ John Schembri … Ok Gann. Int taf seww li jien QATT ma kont f’dak l-istat! QATT!!lol
Anyway, it is a silly excuse to run away! Your choice!
Nispera li narak dalwaqt. Hope mhux il-knisja! lol
That vile creature has sunk to new lows:
http://www.vivamalta.org/forum/showpost.php?p=146375&postcount=2
Unbelievable that such ‘people’ exist in this day and age!
@ David Buttigieg
I sincerely hope that nobody who contributes to this website
is going to write in agreeing with that horrible man. I think anyone who does, should be banned.How he can sleep at night I don’t know.
@Peter
Kappara? Sorry I don’t do Sliema suburbs :)
@David Buttigieg
Do you think Norman would accept Arab blood, seeing that our DNA seems to come from that region?
PS perhaps someone should tell him that he cannot donate blood even if he wants to seeing that he is 61. I suppose that is a give away as to the number of times he offered. :)
@ Pete: Ok ,ghandek ragun……………………”Eppur si muove”
I think that Norman is not pure Maltese pedigree. Shouldn’t we send him back where his forefathers came from?
@ John Schembri … “Pure Maltese pedigree” lol .. I like it!
Am I included in your list,since I am PURE GOZITAN Pedigree and NOT MALTESE?!
Again, is our Host included too? In that case,the list od persons that you want to send back where thir forefathers come from would never end.
I like your sense of humour.
Well, Norman Lowell doesn’t look that “European” himself….he can be very easily mistaken for an Arab selling at the souk of Tunis :) Anyway we’re not racists, we still love him…well I guess he won’t accept my love, i’m a socjalista skwallidu :'( …and to make things even worse, I would have had a J put on my passport if I was living under “uncle Adolph”…anyone got gass? I’m an Untermensch :S
John Schembri: Norman Lowell doesn’t have a ‘pure Maltese pedigree’ because no such thing exists. He can’t even lay claim to a ‘pure European pedigree’ either, can he? That’s the interesting thing about the racists who pop up all over the place. They’re less concerned with keeping their ‘race’ “pure” than with maintaining their denial and self-delusion about their genetic origins. It only takes a slight shift in perspective to realise that “Maltese identity” is really “Mediterranean” and that, whether the ractists like it or not, includes North Africa and the Middle East as much as their beloved “Europe”.
Pete , u r not drunk, perhaps your coffee is strong, if you don’t mind my leg pulling here’s one for you:
Which one do you prefer “Ghawdxi tajjeb aharqu” or “Ghawdxi tajjeb ibzgha ghalih ghax ma’ ssibx bhalu”?
A 99.99% pure Gozitan should be from Gharb.
A good one was when I was talking to a Pure Gozitan about finding oil at il-Madonna taz-zejt , we discussed wether Gozo would ask for Independence (KMB style ), his prompt witty reply was “WE Gozitans will give the Maltese people Independence!”
@ Corinne: Pure Maltese Pedigree exists, it is not applicable for Homo Sapiens. You can always ask Peter why he is LOL.
As regards our origin I think we are a mixed lot , to put it mildly.
@ John Schembri .. I prefer this Gozitan saying most : “Malti aharqu hu x’inhu”.
In your response to Cora .. ” we are all mixed’ you are ONLY right if you were referring to her and you. I am pure Gozitan and you cannot refer that tghis way.
Finally you should know that Gharb is nowadays full of ‘renegades’. lol
@ John Schembri … Please note that we Gozitans have been enjoying ‘our style of Independence” long before you can ever imagine.
The “church’ realised that before the politicians did. We still enjoy it to our utmost.
Peter Muscat: Gozo is a location, not a race.
@ Cora …. Gozitans have their own characteristics which certainly tal-pepe will never have.Pure Gozitans like myself are the pillars and the spine of all that is great, wonderful and reasonable.Wonderful Gozo is our earthly haven and heaven.
If to your standard Malta is a location, certainly Gozo isn’t.
Nevertheless, your response shows you do not understand our
( Gozitan’s) way of behaviour and our sense of humour. Try reading between the lines and never take all you read literally.
The post you referred to is the way we are referred to by the intelligenzia maltese.
Peter Muscat: I never take you literally.
@ Cora …. Good. Keep in mind that when I write V.M does not always mean Vergin Mary.
Try harder and you will comprehend much better.
Peter Muscat, as an ambassador for Gozo, you’re pretty embarrassing: can’t spell, can’t write, can’t construct a simple sentence, and can’t think. Maybe you’re a genetic cross with a goat.
Any of you guys badmouthing cops ever been a cop??
Unless the government and the courts protect police officers in Malta like they do in civilised countries you’re gonna have this kind of thing happening.
There are of course bad cops everywhere and they are a small minority and they should be punished severly if found guilty but so do the numerous persons who were found guilty of assaulting cops, never mind this suspended sentence business.
The police should be respected coz they are the only barrier between democracy and anarchy in a country. I always respect police officers no matter how short or fat they are and if they rell me to move I’ll move coz they are the law.
Vince: Respecting officers who are short and fat and do their job properly is fine. Respecting police officers because they are police officers is not. The anger about the case mentioned above is that the police seem to have been unnecessarily heavy handed. Respecting policemen who exhibit that kind of behaviour isn’t fair on all the others who do a difficult job properly.