Will the newspapers please stop spreading the government’s lie that this was a ‘hit and run’
A ‘hit and run’ is when you hit somebody’s car and just keep driving in full awareness of what you have done instead of getting out to leave your details.
And even then, it does not justify the owner of the car you’ve hit in drawing a gun and shooting at you – even if he is a police constable and even if you have wrecked his entire car and not just bushed the wing mirror.
But this is not what happened. The incident was discovered and reported precisely because people who saw it happen right there and then rang the Nationalist Party’s newsroom to give their eyewitness account.
When they heard a commotion outside in the street, they went out onto their balcony to look. What they saw was two men, one standing by a car carrying GM14 plates, and the other standing by another car. The other driver was out of the car. He had not ‘hit and run’.
The man standing next to GM14 was waving a gun. The other man was telling him to put it away and be reasonable. The man with the gun waved it around shouting even harder. The other man at that point turned round, got into his car and left – because of the gun.
While still standing outside GM14, the man with the gun shot at the other man’s retreating car, twice. The shots were clearly audible to the people at their window/on their balcony.
This tallies with the fact that there are two bullet-holes in the Briton’s car: one in the rear lamp and the other near the roof.
The man with the gun then climbed into GM14 and sped off after the other man. This is obviously where the eyewitnesses lost sight of them both.
The next thing we know is that the man who was shot was intercepted in the nearby traffic tunnel by policemen, was arrested, and his car impounded. But the tunnel is NOT where the shooting took place.
The Briton did not flee the scene because he bushed a wing mirror. He got out of the car to talk about it. He fled when a man wearing ordinary clothes brought out a gun and threatened him. Any reasonable person would do the same in those circumstances. If an angry man draws a gun on you, it is sensible to assume that he might well shoot you, and this man in fact did so. There are two bullet holes to prove it.
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Some parts of the media are irresponsibly perpetuating this blatant lie.
You said it once, Daphne, and it bears repeating here. When Labour is in government people, including some editors and some journalists, are taken over by fear.
Fear only feeds the system.
Precisely. However, under such government, this nation’s only hope is a good Opposition and hard-kicking-in-the-but journalists. Otherwise, we are doomed for at least 10 years.
My thoughts too. How fast was he to run out from his mother’s kitchen, while drinking a coffee u ‘biskuttin’, and manage to get into the ministerial offical Mercedes. Something is very fishy. I wonder if he was at his mother’s house at all.
Warning: Jekk tolqot xi mera ta’ karozza ta’ xi ministru tkun qed tirriskja xi tlett tiri.
The police should obtain whatever papers it is they need to take that Minister’s driver for a good check up at Mount Carmel.
This incident ain’t a peaceful protest by an unarmed man standing next to a car in Castille Square.
An accurate reconstruction of what happened yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMagP52BWG8
Let’s wait for another one of those “The Minister’s driver did not have sex with that woman” press releases from the DOI.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-11-20/local-news/Minister-Mallia-police-chief-Zammit-and-government-head-of-communications-Farrugia-in-meeting-6736126033
In a democracy, the police investigations should not be in any way influenced by the Ministry for Police or the Prime Minister`s Office, even more so in this case where the minister`s driver is involved.
The fact that these three men are meeting together this morning at all, is scandalous. Even if they`re not discussing this incident, the impression given is that the police are not being independent. All three should go. Now.
If nothing is done it will tantamount to precedent. The message sent is that anyone can take their law into their own hands and get away with it. This is dangerous
Not anyone.
Just Taghna Lkoll.
But that’s already in place.
I might be speculating but the beer bottle and breathalyser seem to be an attempt at a cover up of some sort
The newspaper editors must be receiving training from the Chinese party machines.
Either that or they are receiving bills from Kasco.
Accountability is always so difficult to pinpoint these days.
The fact is that the Times of Malta and objectivity have now long since parted ways.
The fact is that someone must be responsible for that decision.
The fact is that such decisions are above an editor’s rank.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-11-20/local-news/Minister-s-driver-had-been-found-guilty-of-disobeying-police-orders-issued-by-now-police-chief-Ray-Zammit-6736126031
Stupid question- is he still under arrest? This is ridiculous.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-11-20/local-news/Minister-s-driver-had-been-found-guilty-of-disobeying-police-orders-issued-by-now-police-chief-Ray-Zammit-6736126031
It gets even worse.
Pajjiz immexxi minn kiminali ghal aktar inkuraggiment ta’ kriminali.
Edward Scicluna should have introduced a tax on lies. It would have filled his coffers with revenue from his ministerial colleagues alone.
Not only does one have to pay more tax to stay on the road, an increase of 20 to 25 euro just on licence fees, but now one has to be careful of not getting shot by close ministry personnel.
Talk about a bargain one time offer.
Times of Malta’s report is beyond belief.
In the same article they (a) show a photo of a bullet hole in the tail light of the Brit’s car, and (b) state “Yesterday the Ministry of Home Affairs said two warning shots had been fired ‘in the air'”.
More importantly the report fails to conclude and make explicit the gross discrepancy between scientific fact (hole in the car) and the statements (warning shot in the air).
Mallia must resign his post with immediate effect. This is what happens in normal democratic countries.
Mallia must resign his post with immediate effect.
Mallia was not even there.
Get a grip.
[Daphne – Mallia is this man’s boss and directly responsible for his actions and the fact that he was armed and using a car with official plates when not on official business. Yes, Mallia should resign immediately.]
@Daphne
His boss will be the senior police officer who assigned him to this task, not Malia. Malia was not there. Where is there mention that Malia even knew this person was using the car outside of official business?
You may not like any of this lot, but let’s not go on a witch hunt just yet. Focus on the real issues at hand more than what comes across as blood lust.
[Daphne – You can’t even spell the minister’s name and yet you presume to know his duties and his obligations. What you describe are the reasons why Manuel Mallia should go, not reasons why he should not.]
“Get a grip” on two facts.
This episode shows that we all are in danger from those who are supposed to protect us against illegal activities.
And, the term “representative democracy” means that we elect people to represent us and make decisions on our behalf.
Mallia is responsible for all his decisions as an elected member of parliament and as a minister of state. Why do you defend this behaviour?
Or is “your team” losing “the game”?
The sooner you learn to appreciate that democracy is not a football match but a principle that works in your interest, the better.
The principle is the same as that providing the reason for which Helena Dalli should resign.
So A. Citizen wants us to get a grip. Yes indeed, a grip on these incompetent group who think they are almighty and beyond reproach.
The minister should lead by example. And the example we get is the Police Rapid Response Unit taking the victim of a shooting to the police station and forcing him to take a breathalyzer test.
If Mallia does not step down of his own accord, which surely he will not, he is clearly condoning and approving his driver’s behaviour.
And if the prime minister does not make him go, the same can be said of him.
If A. Citizen is happy with that, he is a fool.
This was a hit and run for your life.
This was a straightforward and blatant case of attempted murder.
What hit and run?
Stephen Smith must be wondering why the police are so kind as to offer him bottles of beer while he is locked up.
Thank God this man is not Maltese as he would have been branded as a staunch Nationalist who tried to kill the minister of police.
The term “hit and run” , as I understand it, is normally used when a person is knocked down, rather than when a vehicle is hit.
I suppose the principle is the same, though, where the offending driver fails to stop and admit their responsibility.