The DOI only releases press information fed to it by the government of the day. It is very cowardly of Manwel Mallia to pass the buck on to the DOI, preying on the ignorance of a section of the public.

Version 2014.

Joseph must have read the book and learned from it. His hero in that book is not Winston Smith but Big Brother.

What exactly does that mean? The normal level is almost nothing and three times that would be nowhere near the legal limit.

Is this just intentionally misleading lawyerspeak or just inaccurate reporting?

The maximum sentence for “driving under the influence” is way below having the car shot up with some three bullets whizzing around the head of the driver inside the car and in a busy public road.

1. A policeman on secondment as a driver to a government minister has shot at, and hit repeatedly, the retreating car of a man on whom he drew a gun. Mr Smith is very lucky to have escaped with his life, as one of those bullet-holes indicates that the shot was aimed at his head, whether deliberately or by chance.

2. The shooting took place in a residential area and it`s almost a miracle that no one else has been injured.

3. The police have arrested the victim of this crime and kept him in custody for more than 24 hours. Luckily he is a British subject, and the British High Commission is watching every move the police make. (God help him had he been a Maltese citizen.)

4. The perpetrator of the shooting is still free.

5. The first reaction of the government was to feed the press a fabricated story intended to get the minister’s driver off the hook.

6. The Minister of the Police (or whatever his actual moniker) yesterday described the driver as a “quiet man” who is dedicated to his duty as policeman.

7. The Prime Minister has refused to dismiss Minister Mallia, and has instead transferred the onus of that decision to somebody who is not empowered to make it: the magistrate conducting the inquiry.

Smacks of Orwell’s 1984, doesn’t it.

Look at the prime minister defending the same line. Watch the furrow on his forehead getting deeper as he tries to defend the indefensible.

If the DOI’s press release was based on unverified information, but government wanted the information to come out as soon as possible (this is sheer nonsense in terms of the functions of a DOI), why didn’t the press release state so, or did it just present the unverified information as the facts?

The truth is that no Department of Information worth its name publishes unverified information.

Oh please, Mr. Prime Minister.

The DOI’s press release on Wednesday was an attempt to cover up the entire incident. When the government’s propaganda realised that the truth had come out, they decided to back track and to play an innocent role. Liars.

The minister in charge of the DOI is also compromised by the events.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141121/local/shooting-incident-no-action-against-minister-until-magisterial-inquiry-is-concluded-prime-minister.545054