Alex Vella and his Australian MC Rebels: spreading their crime network to Malta and beyond
Published:
June 20, 2014 at 11:39am
Oh, and that’s not me speaking: that’s Europol and the Australian and Tasmanian police. This video was uploaded five days ago – a Malta run, and as you can see, it’s dominated by Alex Vella and other Australian bikers.
There are several Maltese men I know who have tried to dampen down their midlife crisis (and in many cases, their post-mid-life crisis) by getting a Harley and a leather jacket and going out in convoys on the lanes of Malta and the roads of Sicily.
They’re nuts to get involved with these criminal hamalli, on the basis that they share an interest in bikes. There are better ways to get your kicks.
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What is exactly that they are rebelling against. Is it only in Malta that “rebels” and tough guys get a police escort for their protection?
No it’s not only in Malta, if you check it up, they get police escort even in Australia.
I find it ironic that such a rebel biker group adhere to the police escort.
Isn’t that a white supremacist flag?
That is one part or section of the Confederate flag, also known as the rebel flag.
It was one of three designs for the Confererate States of America, this was the 2nd design and was adopted by General Lee as the battle flag of his Army of Northern Virginia during the American civil war of 1861 to 1865.
It is still a popular flag in a lot of southern USA states to this very day and it makes up part of the state flag of Mississippi.
that should be “Confederate States of America”
Yes I know that. And the confederate flag is usually used by white supremacists because of what the CFA stood for – a stance against the abolition of slavery and, later, against equal civil rights.
And what is the 1% , “Il pizzu” (Mafia protection money)?
1% means they are the 1% of all bike groups the hardcore elite.. outlaws.
It’s an EGO thing.
Malta Police leading the pack !
At least a few of those are possibly criminal hamalli themselves. There are a number of Maltin tal-Awstralja who ride bikes and pride themselves on having voted for Norman Lowell.
I think people who vote for Norman Lowell are the ‘criminal hamalli’.
Accompanied by the police! Wow!
Does anyone recognise any policemen?
if riding a bicycle or even a skateboard in a public garden is illegal and not allowed, why do leather jackets, bare arms and tattoos make it acceptable riding around in same place on a Harley ?
U le jahassra.
I wouldn’t mind it these seemingly dubious characters were in their teens but they have evidently outgrown that age by a few decades at least.
There is time for reckless amusement. We all go through that but with normal people this usually ends in the early twenties latest.
Stretching it to andropause is ridiculous.
People need to learn that the Rebel flag is comparable to the Nazi flag if they know some American history:
http://www.care2.com/causes/yes-the-confederate-flag-is-racist-and-heres-why.html
What a completely disrespectful thing to say.
The Confederate Flag cannot be compared to the Nazi Flag what-so-ever.
As a Cajun/First Nation man I find this suggestion to be total rubbish.
Now as I live in Australia I would like to point out that most of the Outlaw Clubs here just happen to provide many services to the communities they live in – the Rebels being at the forefront.
I know lots of Clubbies and they are all hard working people who live in our community – not all have criminal records.
I know the Vella family – not Alex, but his cousins in Melbourne, and many a time they have given me help when I needed it and never asked for nothing in return.
That’s what the Mafia say: we provide services to the community. Pablo Escobar’s fans said much the same thing.
Thank you Micheal for putting that on this site. I too have had many years as a single mum being looked after by these so called criminals.
I am not a bikie groupie, I am in my late 40’s and if it was not for the Rebel Bikie Gang as they are called in Queensland i could be dead today.
I was bashed in my place of employment a few years back and it was the Rebels who came to my rescue, with no care as to the trouble they would be in for being at the scene. The police were even going to arrest them for what happened until I had to tell them they were my rescuers not the criminals.
Seriously I ride a motor bike and wear a leather jacket and boots, and I have tattooes, Does that make me a criminal and an outlaw?
These people make a lot of money for charities which now because of the bigots in this country and others and the new laws that are coming in Children are now going to miss out on.
Bike rides for Childrens charities are NOT criminal events, they are community events to help children with medical problems have a better life and these outlaw bike gangs are the ones who raise money for them, money that is greatly needed. They bring toys and joy to many many children every year.
1% to me means the 1% of them that have not changed their mind set and become legal.
All the guys and their partners that I have met over the last few years all hold down jobs. Real legal jobs where they pay taxes which pays for the politicians to stay in power.
These people who you all call criminals are real honest hard working tax paying members of the community with families and hearts. Try to get to know one or two of them and find out for yourself before judging the from media hype.
Sorry had to have my two cents worth.
You need to watch this South Park episode on Harley riders.
http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s13e12-the-f-word
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/40252/pm_praises_blevins_franks_standards_of_excellence?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
“The very fact that you hold your annual conference during a period when everyone is trying to escape and watch World Cup matches is evidence enough of how serious this company is,” Muscat said.
Kull kumment huwa superfluwu.
Unbelievable
Mummy mummy, Look! I can balance on two wheels and make lots of noise.
Great, and the police give them escort instead of checking them all out.
I hope these do not become an NGO and start claiming rights and subsidies.
Good to know who are the members of the local fraternity and what they do for a living.
The worrying thing is that most of the helmets worn are illegal within the EU and the police have obviously not taken any steps.
The policemen are obviously bikers and definately know an illegal helmet when they see one.
Is it too much to ask that at least one of these buffoons brings along a Maltese flag…(I didn’t view the whole 7 min video so forgive me if I missed it) how proud I am my father is so simply normal!
Great video better than the one just issued by the police….just kidding.
I don’t condone violence, drugs or crime but I am all for diversity and inclusion. Bad apples are everywhere but that does not mean that all the rebels are criminals.
… While being escorted by the Police.
Ghandi tricycle ta meta kont zghir tghid idahhluni fil-klabb tal-qamel taghhom?
Is that a police escort at 4:05?
And two of them at 4:52? From waiters to escorts for criminals?
There again at 5:51.
Alla jbierek x’kummissarju ghandna. I already knew about Alex Vella and his tribulations with the Australian authorities and I’m just someone with healthy interest in current affairs.
But the commissioner should definitely know unless he’s an incompetent fool. And yet he gives Alex Vella a police escort.
Couldn’t agree more. My interests are intelligent women, wine and song.
This Malta run somehow still reminds me of Southpark Harley Fags pt2: http://youtu.be/BkqCmVXXbk4
What an idiotic and bizarre aberration: the confederate flag of the 13 southern American states with a superimposed eight pointed cross.
The stupidity of this mob is truly astounding. Do they know what this flag stands for and what its history is?
I bet those Americans from the southern states who still proudly display this flag after a century and a half from the end of the American civil war would classify these “rebels” with their former slaves rather than welcome them among their ranks.
They look as ridiculous as those Maltese who dance to country and western music dressed as cowboys. And what exactly are they rebelling against? Rebels without a cause most likely.
La naf nidhaq u l-anqas nibki. Dawn x’nies huma? Hekk imorru lebsin ghax xoghol?
They remind me of gay men at some leather event.
There is a list of outlawed motorcycle clubs and the Rebels are among them:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_outlaw_motorcycle_clubs
The police should be really proud to be escorting outlaws. Would the Commissioner of Police care to explain?
Hilarious. Last time I saw so much leather and flesh was at a Gay Pride party. Shouldn’t the soundtrack be YMCA?
OK. So I’m about to turn 30 and I’ve been riding since I was 18.
[Daphne – Really? Where did you get the money to buy a Harley when you were 18? The reason most Harley riders are middle-aged or OAPs is because that’s when they can finally afford to buy one. Even if it’s a matter of priorities, at 18 you don’t have the readies and you don’t get the credit. But perhaps your father bought you one.]
Criminal? No more than your average Joe. Midlife crisis? No. It’s a way of life. It’s just you, your machine and the road. The liberation of the wind in your face is an experience only bikers know and love.
[Daphne – Total bollocks, if you will excuse my language and my irritation. If you’re wearing a helmet, you have neither a sense of liberation nor the wind on your face. And I speak as somebody who quite literally grew up on the back of a bike in the years when helmets were not mandatory. So unlike you, I actually know the difference. Secondly, ‘it’s just you, your machine and the road’ – oh right, and the rest of Malta stuck in their cars and hooting along some bypass. The open road does not exist in Malta. So unless you live to take your bike on the catamaran to Sicily every month, I don’t know why you even bother. That’s assuming you live in Malta.]
As for motorcycle clubs there are quite a few on the island and they all get on well. They all have steady jobs (some even professionals) so Miss Caruana Galizia before you start tarnishing every motorcycle owner on the island with the life long criminal brush, I personally invite you on a Sunday ride, meet the local motorcycle enthusiasts and judge for yourself. then and only then can you judge.
[Daphne – Mrs, please, not Miss. I am not an unmarried mother. Your invitation is really not necessary. My parents routinely got around on a motorbike in the 1950s, which was highly unusual for their generation and background, but my father was motorbike-mad and had one from the age of 16 to his late 40s. I rode pillion without a helmet from around the age of 6, so I am perfectly at home on the back of a bike and not in the least bit bothered by it, because what you get used to as a child you take for granted for the rest of your life. Proper motorbikes were part of normal life for me, and that is why I do not romanticise or glamorise them, and also why I find people who do – especially when they discover them late in life – so very sad. Two of my sisters actually have motorbike licences even though they do not ride one anymore. So sorry about that.]
I know Steve and he is the real deal. He’s like something out of those 1980s videos. You expect dry ice to issue forth from the grating when he turns up.
So I think we shouldn’t be too scathing in his regard. He’s not the Alex Vella type.
I do tend to agree with steve here. There are many pastimes, and one of them happens to be the subject.
Just because you don’t happen to like this particular pastime, doesn’t mean they can be called anything from criminals to sad people.
Opinions do vary, and it’s what makes the world go round. Respecting others’ opinions just makes the world a more tolerable place.
[Daphne – You really need to keep up, I’m afraid. It’s Europol who called them criminals.]
1. At 18 it was definitely no Harley, but a knackered old Honda sounds more accurate. It did the trick just the same.
2. Never seen an open faced helmet?
3. Honking car drivers are 1 of the reasons I ride.
4. Thank you for confirming that not all bikers are trouble, which was more or less the point of the whole argument.
5. Your language is atrocious. You sound like a biker!
6. I used miss as a general term. Your marital status does not bring anything to the table.
thank you
Steve
I think I also spotted an off-duty police sergeant kitted out in leather.
Alex Vella: 62 years old and still making an ass of himself.
To qualify to become a Rebel, you have to be a man, a hamallu, tattooed, fat, old or middle-aged and ugly.
It would be interesting to know what Eddy Privite(e)ra has to say about all this.
Maybe he has some sort of justification, like that Andrew Camilleri has and who follows in Privite(e)ra’s footsteps on Times of Malta’s comments-board.
Probably they are waiting for an ‘official’ comment from their PM and then they will follow the lead, whatever that may be. As long as Joey said it, then it must be gospel-truth.
Joseph Muscat might as well transfer his office from Castille to the CCF in Paola.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140621/local/convicted-football-chief-heads-gozo-sports-board.524339
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-06-20/news/energy-tariffs-reductiontime-is-of-essence-for-industry-5550309377/
‘..The Malta Chamber noted with concern comments made by Minister Konrad Mizzi which were reported in the media that reduction of business electricity tariffs will have to wait until 2015….’
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-06-21/news/not-prudent-to-talk-about-spain-visit-yet-transport-ministry-5551489024/
‘We never promised miracles on public transport’
The roadmap has its roadblocks.
The true shocking part of this story is that the Maltese Police did absolutely nothing about the information they received from Interpol and still continue to do nothing.
Police in Malta never do anything – they are too scared of finding their investigations lead to their political masters and getting transferred!
These days, serving a sentence (suspended or otherwise) seems to be a badge of honour (just like those tattoos worn in prison) that fast tracks some within the PL’s Taghna Lkoll movement.
Or perhaps, it is the ministers and the prime minister himself, who are but puppets on a string, dancing to a tune played by self serving businessmen, developers and less refined people of dubious, and quite often, criminal character.
So I scroll through articles like this quite frequently, and as usual the majority are on here are being keyboard warriors, commenting things on a subject you know nothing about. You are all just sheep, taking in what the media tell you. We are all put into one category, but truth be told we are from all walks of life, don’t be to quick to judge us, our club has done more fundraising and helped out so many people, eg. Funded the local school library, so they could buy an entire new source of education based ready material, gave everything including our time to people in need when the bush fires devistated so many people. But of course you hear nothing of what we actually do because we don’t do it for a popularity contest. Think twice before posting your uneducated posts everyone, we are here to stay and do more for people and community out of the goodness of our hearts than what half you on here would ever comtplate doing.
I have been an Australian Rocker (not biker) for 52 years & have been riding British bikes for the first 25 years of my life & Harley Davidsons for the last 27 years, including the present time where I ride an 09 Heritage! I am also a pure blood Maltese having been born in Birkirkara in 48! I make these points to establish my Qualifications to speak on these matters! For a start, the Rebel MC are not a Criminal Organisation, Although like all large organisations, including ‘Churches’ you will find a criminal element if you look hard enough! Point 1. The Police & Government have unsuccessfully persecuted Alex for the last 30 years or so, not because he is a criminal, but because he is the National President of the Rebels! This makes Alex Vella # 1 on the Governments hit list, as it would be a major win & victory for the Australian Government just to get a minor criminal conviction, so they can justify the millions of Tax dollars they have spent trying to convict him! Each time the Courts found him not Guilty! Alex Valla is not that smart that he can hide criminal activity for 40 years under the tightest Government & Police surveillance & scrutiny, & come up squeakee clean each & every time! No one is! I understand how successive Governments tasks themselves to succeeded where other Governments failed! And each & every time a new Government is elected Alex is there to greet them! Even a blind man can see that Mr Vella has been a victim of circumstances!
As for this nobody would be Jurnalist, Daphne Caruanna Galizia she should get her facts straight! Alex Vella is Australian National President, Obviously this air head can’t tell the difference between Australia & Malta! Each country are independent of each other & Alex Valla has no say in Malta! But why allow the facts to get in the way of a good story, hey Miss shit for brains! Or didn’t Euro-pole, Australian & Tasmanian Police tell you, you second rate Hack! As for the rest of you dark room keyboard Warriors, Why don’t you grow some balls & go to the Rebels Club House & express your views to them directly? Bahaha :)
The only bike riders riding in formation are seen at Tal-Grazzja pilgrimage from Rabat to Ħaż-Żabbar.
Every Saturday afternoon one can see a lot of bike enthusiasts near Grace’s kiosk in Ħal-Far , they meet there and the only thing they discuss are bikes, and if I’m not mistaken they also meet at Għajn Tuffieħa every Sunday morning.
Will Alex take his “faithful” to the pilgrimage come next September?
I don’t believe they can do anything bad without being nipped in the bud in Malta, as bikers.
WHAT PATHETIC COMMENTS . YOU CANNOT CONFUSE REBEL RIDERS TO OTHER BIKER GROUPS IN MALTA .
MOST BIKERS IN MALTA SIMPLY ENJOY A BIKE RIDE WITH THEIR REGULARS OVER A FEW DRINKS AND A MEAL . MALTESE BIKER GROUPS ARE NOT CRIMINALS, PERIOD.
THE VIDEO SHOWN ABOVE WAS AN ORGANISED CHARITABLE RIDE EVENT WITH APPROPIATE POLICE PERMISSION IN AID OF BLOOD DONATIONS ,WHICH IS VERY MUCH NEEDED .
MALTESE BIKERS ARE NOT CRIMINALS …..YOU GUYS MUST SEE MANY BIKER MOVIES BASED ON U.S.SOIL AND ARE CONSEQUENTLY INFLUENCED IN A NEGATIVE WAY.
LIVE TO RIDE
[Daphne – Hello, Jacques. Why is your name all in lower case, and your comment all in upper case?]
Jacques, this is rubbish. The 1% is a symbol of OUTLAW biker (not conforming to law). Or, the 1% is purely to appeal to their ego. Either way, as a biker since childhood, I cannot respect this kind of SUNDAY BIKER syndrome.
[Daphne – Thank you for saying that, Chris. I, too, have little patience for Sunday Harley riders. Especially when I know that most of them first got a bike at 40 as a statement and not because they actually like it. Why didn’t they get a bike before that – too scared of what mummy and daddy would say? Hardly. Before that, they thought bikes were for losers and rich people drove big, expensive cars. And then they discovered that they could get a bike that was a status symbol, but haven’t yet worked out that the status and the symbol are not quite what they think they are.]
Can you describe to me how can you afford a 20,000Euro Harley at a young age?
You have to be in your 40s to pay for one.
You don’t have a right to judge these people !! They go to work normalii !! And they have a family aswell !! They have kids they are fantastic dads I bet better then some of you are who works in a bloody office or a doctor or some bulshit like that And No thry are not hamalli they are very nice people they have a bike cause they worked for it that’s whyy!! And don’t be so fullish no they don’t wear leather cause there gay but because leather is what bikers wear!! You don’t have any rightt to say they are hamalli or criminals they have familys and if there family see this they will get hurtt !! Don’t everr judge people!! You have a mirror look at your self and see what you are!!!
To all you people who seem to be talking out of your rear ends, Those who are not involved in the Maltese bike community can never understand what riding with your brothers is about, its not about gangs ,pushing drugs,prostitution or anything like that, i think some of you have aloud yourselves to be influenced by the media and tv too much, the only reason there was a police escort is to ensure the safety of the riders and make sure that all goes as smoothly as possible , just because you ride around with a patch on your back dosn’t mean your an outlaw. For those of you have no idea whats going on around them most of the clubs hold rides to raise money for charity’s such as orphanages and other causes to ensure those who have less then them get something special in there time of need be it presents for kids at Christmas or assistance towards the less fortunate .I’m sure it is slightly more productive then most of your contributions towards the needy. So PLEASE before putting anyone on two wheels all in the same boat with criminals think before you speak. Oh yeah, look twice and keep an eye out for bikes on the road .
Reading these comments makes me laugh and really would love to be face to face having these conversations over a cup of coffee with certain people as i know i could drop these silly statements and arguments and leave them speechless as they have no idea what they are saying. Also its easy to say certain things when you put a fake name and hide in the screen. for any one who thinks they have a valid point feel free to contact me and we can meet up to discuss any issues you might have or misconceptions about ”bikers” I will even buy the coffee.
And on a small side note ”Rebel Riders Brotherhood aren’t Rebels MC .
it is the law in Malta to have police escort when organising large ‘Runs’; in this country. Traffic control and safety
Riding Club members, whether MC, Brotherhoods or informal riding clubs and free riders know the first word .. Respect!!
If any law is broken then take action to stop/catch the criminal,till then,. be tolerant to what you dont inderstand or fear and pick a different subject to gossip.
This is not gun country and we are small .. so bikers can enjoy peacefully and freely ..
Most international brothers and sisters are here purposely for this .. family and peace of mind .. Unique here :)
Riding a motorcycle is a way of life and a way to blow off steam irrespective if its a Harley, Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Triumph or any other brand. Some use their bikes for convenience and to beat the traffic and parking problem while others might ride as a hobby. The bottom line is that nobody has the right to judge.