Liberal and progressive update: China, here we come
The institutionalised harassment of Labour’s ‘enemies of the state’ continues apace. Today’s victim is erstwhile TVM show-host Norman Vella, the only member of the Where’s Everybody team who hasn’t allowed himself to be taken hostage by the Labour Party so as to ensure his survival in one form or another.
In fact, he is now working in passport control at the airport, having been returned to the immigration section of the civil service whence he first came to television.
Now tonight The Malta Independent reports:
Former TV presenter Norman Vella, who is employed at the passports section at Malta International Airport, was arrested this evening at the end of his shift for allegedly taking photos of the government’s chief communications officer Kurt Farrugia at the departure lounge.
Mr Vella has denied the accusation, and was released after an hour of interrogation. His mobile phone was confiscated.
Sources said that the police is in possession of CCTV footage showing Mr Vella taking photos.
Earlier this afternoon, Mr Farrugia and the communications coordinator of the Home Affairs Ministry, Ramona Attard, left for London to join their colleagues for a course to be given by the BBC.
Mr Vella was stopped from continuing his popular shows on TV after the election, with his secondment to PBS withdrawn by the government. He has taken legal action.
——
Now Times of Malta is reporting:
Mr Vella said the police are investigating him for allegedly taking the photo and publishing it on blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia’s website earlier today.
Mr Vella is denying the allegations. “They want to investigate my mobile. I cannot understand why they want my mobile because I also have personal information on it.” Mr Vella said he has been suspended from work as from tomorrow.
This is an appalling lie. I have just phoned Times of Malta’s newsroom and spoken to Kurt Sansone, who wrote the story, saying that:
1. I did not receive any photo of any kind, taken at any place, from Norman Vella;
2. I did not receive any photo of Kurt Farrugia, Ramona Attard or any of the other ex Super One TV contingent taken at the airport today by anyone else/from anyone else;
3. I did not upload any such photo for the simple reason that I did not have one to begin with, and still don’t – but if anyone else managed to take one, please send it to [email protected] and I will upload it immediately;
4. My posts about the ex Super One contingent’s mass trip to London for training at the expense of the state are still up and have not been changed; Kurt Sansone could have read them and checked to see whether there were photos with them before he wrote that; the posts have also been read by many thousands of people and I am quite sure that there are several witnesses to the fact that there was never a photograph, among his colleagues in the newsroom.
Now this is my message to the police and to the immigration authorities who have suspended Norman Vella from his job (as though he hasn’t been harassed enough already): THERE IS NO PHOTOGRAPH. THERE NEVER WAS. HE NEVER SENT ME ONE. I DON’T HAVE ONE. HE’S NOT LYING WHEN HE SAYS SO.
Oh, and can the police take somebody’s phone unless that somebody is suspected of committing a serious crime? Phones nowadays are not just phones – they are repositories of huge amounts of personal information, including all our emails, messages, photos, and contacts. Surely this is abusive. Yes, of course it is abusive.
I have absolutely no doubt as to why and how it happened. Shortly after I uploaded my post about Kurt Farrugia travelling out of Malta with his dear, close friend and fellow ex Super One reporter, a hostile, aggressive and sarcastic comment came in, obviously clicked out on the hoof because it was packed with typos, accusing Norman Vella of telling me. I deleted it, bearing in mind that whenever I used to upload something about Kurt’s uncommon physical stature, a stream of hysterical abuse would come in.
It was Kurt Farrugia, chief of government communications, who reported Norman Vella to the police, apparently. This, I must remind you, is the midget who stood over me (we were seated), my sister and one of my sons with a camera while we were in the audience at a political debate at the university in the 2008 electoral campaign. He stood there taking pictures from a couple of feet away while his friend, that son of an amateur porn star and Labour pom-pom girl, Byon Jo Zammit, filmed us. They then went off and wrote a pack of lies, for which I sued and won around Eur1,500. I would call him a prick, but he’s a lot smaller than that.
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“They then went off and wrote a pack of lies, for which I sued and won around Eur1,500. I would call him a prick, but he’s a lot smaller than that.”
You seriously need to invest in a “like” button.
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The Democratic People’s Republic of Malta is slowly becoming a police state, interfering with journalism and personal freedoms.
Perhaps they can now chain Norman Vella and take him to PBS (the national TV station) where he will be asked to make a public confession during the news.
Is this charade taking place within the Ministry of Manwel Mallia, the Minister with the new style of doing politics and who is a candidate for the post of Deputy Prime Minister?
Is it illegal to take photos at the airport?
I think the airport can be deemed a public space so there is nothing illegal in taking a photo of someone.
Surely if there is any action to be taken by the person who is aggrieved this would be a civil case and not a criminal one.
If this is the case how on earth is a person arrested for taking a photo? Is the PM’s communications co-ordinator so powerful? Are the police so willing to arrest people without even checking things out at the behest of the PM’s PRO?
I’m sure the police have better things to do like finding out who is the cat murderer before he decides the next victim should be a human.
Probably Kurt did not want the whole of Malta to know that Ramona Attard, he and half of Super One ex-employees were off to a “training course” paid for by the taxpayers, precisely for this reason that he does not want the public to know that ex-Super One hate-machine workers are using public funds under the guise of “government officials”.
Still, the most worrying aspect of this story is that this government is acting like its favourite country – China. When you are in China, you cannot take photos of “government officials” or your camera will be taken away from you and you’ll probably be arrested too. The twinning has begun.
Thank you, switchers.
I don’t care whether it’s illegal or otherwise to take photos at passport control, I don’t care whether he took the photos or not, I don’t care whether he sent you the photos or not, I don’t care whether you uploaded them or not. What I do care about is the reason for, and consequences of, this incident.
Why would anyone call for a person’s arrest for possibly taking a photo of them in a sensitive area of the airport, in this day and age? And what gives them the power to have this person arrested for such a banal reason (which has yet to be confirmed)? Arresting a person is very serious and, in my humble opinion, far outweighs the alleged crime.
Kurt Farrugia was never very smart. I could tell you how he got through university, but he might get offended.
‘Senior officials’? Seriously? They have been in government since 9 March, and they are communications coordinators.
I must be missing something, but why are the police involved? Surely you can’t be arrested only for taking photos of the Supreme Midget?
I write in solidarity with Norman Vella and his family and in strong condemnation of the fascist behaviour of Joseph Muscat’s government.
It’s all right for Super One crew to harass you, Daphne, in Republic Street, Valletta, taking photos of you and your relatives and following you around while you are minding your own business, when you are not a government official, but when they become government officials and somebody tries to take a picture of them (more so when he did not), they show their true colours, vindictiveness and hate towards those who oppose them.
After these illustrious seven months, and Times of Malta still fanning.
My solidarity to Norman Vella and his family.
This is shameful abuse of power. Can’t we do anything? I feel so helpless in the face of all this abuse.
The list is getting quite long: that English boxer, the policeman who did his duty but got suspended anyway, the elderly swimmer with a companion dog, now Norman Vella. This must stop now, nobody is safe.
As for Kurt Farrugia, you’ve nicknamed him quite appropriately as Kurt Coconut. Head half full of liquid and way too large for his body. When he throws his weight around like that, he’s making up for his insecurities.
Even if somebody had taken such photos, why would it be illegal to take photos of people in public spaces?
This country is rapidly becoming asphyxiating.
The police are using the trumped up charge that photos were taken in a restricted area under police control.
The restriction is a security measure to prevent planned attacks or violations of border controls.
Perhaps the police genuinely believe that Norman Vella needed photos to help him a terrorist attack at his own desk.
Or maybe this is a menacing warning about what will happen to anyone taking photos of shady characters carrying Maltese passports bought with ill gotten gains.
Were the travellers in question passed through the restricted area so that the action against Norman could be taken?
[Daphne – No, it’s because Britain is non-Schengen and the flight was to London Heathrow.]
It is actually a pity that we do not have a picture of Ramona Attard through passport control on her way to London.
We would have checked whether she found time to shampoo before she turns up at the BBC.
There are similarities to this story:
http://2164th.blogspot.fr/2013/10/the-agents-including-coast-guard-now.html?showComment=1382781925126
Joseph Muscat, the prime minister of Malta, has on the 27th October, 2013 begun his revenge on his pre-election promise to Norman Vella..
Norman Vella was arrested this evening at the end of his shift.
Meanwhile Lou Bondi is busy organising ‘Freedom Day’ festivities due to be ‘celebrated’ in a few months time.
I am sure that in London training sessions, the BBC will teach the former-Super-One-employees-turned-public-officials how persons suspected of carrying out journalistic work should be arrested, their mobile phone and portable computers confiscated, and suspended from work.
I can well understand that it is a disciplinary offence to take and communicate photos whilst on duty. But this is not the same as a criminal offence and should not involve the police.
Given the poor record of the police force in solving major crimes in a timely manner, could the puppet on a string Police Commissioner not consider re-ordering his priorities?
FROM BITTER and PERSONAL EXPERIENCE may I tell you that if Labour is going to conduct disciplinary charges as the OLD DEPLETED EXPIRED LABOUR used to do at the Public Service Commission, first may God and only God have mercy on us, Then let Hitler do the prosecution and the KGB be his witnesses. I KNOW VERY WELL what I am saying and that is why if I were anyone else would prefer a police prosecution than a disciplinary charge under this MOVEMENT.
I witnessed a similar Mintoffian incident at Mater Dei Hospital not long ago. It made me sick to the stomach.
A member of the hospital staff fell ill while on duty hours and was in agony for hours without being attended to. When the pain became absolutely unbearable, she made her voice heard and vouched she’d post the whole incident to Facebook.
To everyone’s horror, another member of staff who happened to be on duty in that area, started shouting: “Ha ddum ixxewwex? Aqtahha u tibqax ixxewwex ghax innizzel il-pulizija isiktuk.”
He made it clear that “Allahares narak tiehu xi ritratt bil-mobile”.
To cut it short, within minutes two cops turned up.
I felt sick just witnessing it and thought Labour is back in full force. Shocking.
It will get much worse under Labour.
The Mintoffjan legacy is resurfacing after a short spell of pseudo liberal behavior. Joseph’s itching desire to hit back at Norman Vella has ensued in a fascist action typical of the Maltese socialists.
Lets not forget that Joseph remains essentially a product of the Mintoffian era. He never condemned the high handed behavior of Mintoff but conveniently and maliciously put up an image of a liberal democrat he isn’t.
Harrowing moments, and this is only the beginning. F**k the switchers, is all I can say.
http://www.taghnalkoll.com/?p=725
Our environment is obviously becoming GREENER although it lacks rain