Norman Vella case
It’s being discussed on NET TV right now: Roberto Montalto (criminal law) and Andrew Borg-Cardona (employment law).
Roberto Montalto said that no crime was committed, that taking a photograph, whether in a restricted area or not, does not constitute a crime.
He said that he spent half the day going through the laws to see under what chapter and verse the police could possibly charge Norman Vella, and there is nothing that would allow that.
I wish they had discussed the issue (perhaps they did and I missed it) of whether Norman Vella should have handed over his phone and laptop. In his position, I wouldn’t have. They can’t wrest them off you; you have to surrender them voluntarily, and once you do that, you’re screwed, given that this is the Malta police and worse, the Malta police under Labour.
The police have no right to demand your personal possessions except in highly particular circumstances – when you are placed under investigation for a really serious crime like murder or rape, for example, but even then there are parameters.
Given that the police were always abusive (tell me about it) and now think that they have free rein, we really need to have the parameters explained to us.
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I hope that Kurt Sansone from The Times learnt something this evening from the lawyers Roberto Montalto and Andrew Borg-Cardona.
Sorry my friend but will they ever learn?
That is not his professional line. He must have graduated in Arriva punctures and so on. He never failed to report any.
‘The police have no right to demand your personal possessions except in highly particular circumstances – when you are placed under investigation for a really serious crime like murder or rape, for example, but even then there are parameters.’
Are you saying there was police misconduct? In that case, can legal action be taken against the police officers in question?
[Daphne – What and have it end up before the Police Board? See what I mean? Police misconduct is routine – I’ve lost count of my own bad experiences, and I’m a journalist, not a criminal.]
Too many wrongdoings (to put it mildly) have been happening which fall under the responsibility of Manuel Mallia.
The PN should seriously call for his resignation or boycott his ministry.
Before doing anything of the sort the PN has to emerge from its slumber.
As we say in English, “the PN has had it”.
How I see it Labour are already making such a mess by themselves that the PN need not even enter the picture just yet.
I would not say that, judging by the outstanding speech tonight in Parliament by Jason Azzopardi. But will his colleagues stand by him and voice their opinions in the same manner?
Full speed ahead to Dom’s golden era of the 70s and 80s.
Imagine where we would be now without the EU
At this rate, we’ll find out soon enough.
I don’t put it beyond Mallia’s Stasi to implant photos and compromising pictures in Norman’s phone and tablet. To think that the country has sunk so low in less than nine months, makes me shudder about the next years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOy_oP3ESQY
You mean like this?
That’s exactly what I think.
Min jaf kemm il-mobile u tablet ser jigu sekwestrati l-ghada li tghaddi il-ligi tas-cyber bullying? Min jaf kemm nies ser jigu investigati u interrogati d-depot minhabba xi kumment zejjed li jaghmlu fuq il-Facebook?
I listened to the programme on NET from start to finish and I believe that it was stated that Norman Vella gave the devices voluntarily.
I also saw the interview he gave to MaltaRightNow.com and stated that ‘he was asked to hand over the mobile and tablet and not knowing what they needed them for, he handed them to the police’. He also denied taking any pictures at all and that ‘two individuals made the complaint to the cops.
In hindsight Norman should have refused to hand them over.
I really enjoyed hearing Andrew Borg-Cardona state categorically that this case ‘will not end here and that if one knew Mr Vella he would know that once he believes he is right, he will not stop until vindicated’. He also said that Norman knows who made the complaint but asked him not to reveal the names for now.
How “voluntary” can one say that his handing over of the tablet and phone was. He was in a position which any reasonable person might find intimidating and was without legal assistance. Are actions taken in such a case really voluntary?
Do the police even both to ask the drug dealers and the worse criminals, usually defended by the office of Manuel Mallia (the lawyer not the minister), to surrender their tablet and their smartphone?
Not on your life if they do not want to be dismissed instantly.
I think it’s so important right now that everybody knows what they should and should not do, should such an eventuality arise.
This is an eye opener in our own times.
Let’s not forget that probably Norman Vella is one of the few switchers who went against the tide – so while the PN is trying to welcome back those who left the party, the PL is out to destroy those who left it. The “hu go fik” mentality.
How can Norman Vella be sure that the police didn’t ask for a copy of the logsheet from his operator.
He can never be sure.
The arrest itself was illegal. There were certainly no grounds to warrant an arrest. Hence, I wonder, in on which grounds did they base it?
Besides, to request legally that a suspect’s personal effects be handed over they must have a warrant (in these circumstances) given that Vella was not apprehended violating (criminal) law. Fact remains this is just a “vendikazzjoni”. Another Taliana.
Which just makes you wonder who will be next.
Ħafna jqisu dan l-arrest bħala parti mill-kampanja tal-President Xi Jinping biex irażżan id-dissens fil-pajjiż, minkejja li minn mindu nħatar, kien qal li se jieħu passi konkreti kontra l-korruzzjoni fil-pajjiż. Taħt Xi, fiċ-Ċina qed jitwettaq l-akbar trażżin ta’ dissens kontra t-tmexxija Komunista għal ħafna snin.
http://www.maltarightnow.com/?module=news&at=Fi%26%23267%3B-%26%23266%3Bina+%2E%2E%2E+Arrestati+talli+%26%23295%3Badu+r-ritratti&t=a&aid=99851761&cid=20
I wonder how many readers where actually present when a person taking a photo, of a protest march, near Castille had his camera taken away and destroyed and the subsequent wielding of batons. Decades later and the scene brings back the icy fear and horror it did then. Is this what they call a full circle?
Daphne, dont you find the deafening silence on this matter from people like Lou and Peppi as worrying? Have they had their silence bought so cheaply?
What happens in North Korea:
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/21/world/asia/north-korea-forbidden-photos/?iref=obnetwork
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B91HziQMiKo&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DB91HziQMiKo