Here's another one who thinks Noel Arrigo isn't so bad, miskin
Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando has joined his friend Robert Musumeci in defending the indefensible on Facebook. What can I say, except that they both make perfect champions for somebody like Noel Arrigo.
Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando
Noel Arrigo ruined his life and shamed his family by what he did. He will suffer the consequences for the rest of his life. The hatred levelled at him on blogs is unnecessarily cruel. It is interesting to note that many of the most virulent contributions to the discussion on the Times blog are penned by those who were espousing Christian values when speaking against divorce.
Ruining your life and shaming your family (what about yourself?) are not substitutes for punishment by the state, Jeffrey. And when people get angry in the way they are getting angry now, it’s because they think – justifiably – that the convict in question hasn’t paid the price he should have done, and that others have paid harder for much less.
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Noel Arrigo is now a former convict and he should have paid years in prison.
That’s why people are angry because he was not treated like others who have done less.
What he’s done to his family is something else. Whether he suffers the consequences of that or not we do not care.
Christianity teaches that we must be ready to pay for our mistakes, and one of the requisites for obtaing pardon is showing contrition and the desire to make amends.
The penance must be comparable to the offence.
Most of the comments questioned the judgment and the time spent at Mount Carmel, and only few were what you might call cruel.
Arrigo served his time and it is the law which is wrong. Why is the maximum sentence so short?
“Arrigo served his time…”.
No, he didn’t. He didn’t spend even one day at Corradino like all other common mortal criminals do.
This website comments board is quickly becoming addictive for me since it’s the only one that hasn’t been taken over by those with more feet than brain cells.
Anyway, what’s with defending Noel Arrigo?
Just sitting in any court-hall one normal morning, you’ll see all sorts of people who should not be punished due to humane considerations.
Sometimes, it’s life’s bitchiness which drives a man/woman to crime.
Sometimes, it’s weakness of character and sometimes it’s just bad luck.
But does anybody bat an eyelid or write to The Times? Of course not.
So why all this sudden “miskin”? He’s not a miskin.
I don’t want to condemn him as a person because I am no one to judge an individual. But his acts cannot go unpunished and shouldn’t have got that ridiculous judgment (the law is extremely weak here).
If people are saying this on comments-boards (a.k.a blogs in some circles) they are right and it is simply not hatred. That’s just the plain old boring and harsh truth.
And I echo them here: it is a shame that such a heinous (not bloody and gory but certainly equally horrendous if you think about all the ramifications and repurcussions) crime was treated with such “generosity” by the law and the same institution which had been so gravely attacked by the crime.
I am genuinely sorry for Noel Arrigo’s family but frankly, that is something which is up to him and his family to sort out, certainly not something which society has to deal with.
Excellent post, except for one line. I disagree with you that we are not to judge Arrigo or condemn him as a person.
There is such a thing as a social contract, which, while inconvenient to those who wish to take advantage of others who show respect towards others, confers rights as well as duties.
I wouldn’t judge him as a person if we were living in a primitive society. But as a person (not to mention a former Chief Justice) reaping benefits from a democratic society, yes, I have the right and duty to judge him as a person.
If no one were to judge anyone else as a person, we would have no common standard on which to measure decency and good behaviour.
So enough with this “we shouldn’t judge” crap.
The Times, 7 September:
“Magistrate forced to jail ‘abandoned’ teenager
A 16-year-old boy, who spent most of his life at Mount Carmel Hospital, was jailed for 36 months after he admitted to 12 counts of theft in St Julians this summer. Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit reluctantly handed down the jail term (…)”
So according to Pullicino Orlando, whoever is commenting on the ridiculous time the disgraced chief justice has just completed is not espousing Christian values.
What does he think about this boy?
JPO, mur sib hobby kif dejaqtilna kull m’ghandha dejjem trid tidher u tghid il-kazzatti.
Now we know how he’d vote if an impeachment motion is ever presented in parliament.
Jeffrey, like a lot of others who’ve taken to Facebook, seems to forget that reality is composed of a variety of individuals.
If he were sensible, he’d be watchful of the false security a virtual community provides. By labelling particular blogs as a source of forced dialogue, he admits his failure to subscribe to public opinion.
Some people think that religion (not necessarily Christian) and principles are like the ceramic “konolli” or fibre-optic Fader Krismisses that can be bought in the middle of August from teleshopping at bargain prices, and with the option to return them in two weeks if not completely satisfied.
Comments like JPO’s, Musumeci’s and Peppi’s make me sick.
Ah, so now making the punishment fit the crime and treating everybody equally under the law is tantamount to hatred.
Someone’s having too many drinks at teen parties.
He accepted bribes from a drug dealer to reduce his prison term on appeal. He accepted dirty money or worse still, double dirty money.
Serving time away from Corradino is like a small holiday.
What would you write on FB if one of the drug dealer’s victims was your relative?
Se nibda nirraguna bhal Peppi issa.
During his stay at Mount Carmel Hospital, Noel Arrigo regularly received lawyers and business people. I was surprised to hear some of the names. Was it right that they showed support to him in the circumstances? The double standards in this country always manage to amaze me.
[Daphne – Oh, I’m sure they were obeying the Christian rule: ‘I was in prison, and you visited me.’]
Too bad the meek will never inherit the earth.
Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando should have said that ‘Noel Arrigo ruined his life and shamed his family by what he did’, but he also destroyed the reputation of the justice system in Malta. He should have spent years in prison.
A Gozitan farmer got 18 years in prison for growing cannabis in his field. This is certainly a miscarriage of justice, I am not condoning what that farmer did, but this judgment does not reflect a balanced justice in Malta.
I think that the sentence given to Noel Arrigo is shameful, as is the fact that he was allowed the relative sanctity of Mount Carmel Hospital.
But what offends me most is his absolute disrespect for the law and therefore Malta, by NEVER apologising for what he did, and by very sanctimoniously running around with rosary beads, except when he is happily chatting up women, with the catchy phrase “I’m sure you’ve heard of me, I was in the papers recently”.
Frankly speaking, it is such behaviour that is so disgusting that makes it unforgiveable.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110914/blogs/the-present-state-of-public-discourse.384598