Respect is as important as love in a relationship
God forbid our politicians, of whatever creed, are allowed to become subjected to threats of violence for pushing forward their principles and that of their respective political party.
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Avery long throwback reveals some of the methods used during the Inquisition. The Inquisition was an institution within the Roman Catholic Church responsible for prosecuting individuals accused of a wide array of crimes relating to religious doctrine or other religious beliefs. Inquisitors would go to troublesome regions, question people intensively, conduct tribunals and mete out punishments, sometimes very harsh ones, such as burning offenders alive. Depending on the time and place, the targets were the heretics, Jews, Muslims, Protestants, rationalists and sometimes people who held superstitious beliefs.
The concept of the rule of law is also very old. In the thirteenth century, Bracton, a judge in the reign of Henry III, introduced the concept of the rule of law, although the term ‘rule of law’ came into use later. Bracton wrote: “The king himself ought to be subject to God and the law, because law makes him king.”
The concept of the rule of law is the building block on which modern democratic societies are founded. Laws are made for the welfare of the people and to maintain harmony between conflicting forces in society. One of the prime objects of making laws is to maintain law and order, and to develop a peaceful environment for the progress of the people.
In Malta, by and large, the rule of law has been functioning adequately, but lately this is being questioned, and with good reason. The sooner the pertinent questions are answered comprehensively and unequivocally by the competent authorities, the better it would be for everybody.
For obvious reasons, the current Labour Party leadership team – and without any hesitation, I would add many otherwise level-headed people within the same political force – do not like being reminded that the party they hold close to their heart has a long history linked to corruption. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, senior MLP ministers were allegedly involved in cases of corruption, while party thugs were allowed to resort to physical violence on numerous occasions. The PL suffered and bled profusely back then, paying with a long stint in opposition. And thirty years later, the PL is turning into a photocopy of the old MLP.
Perhaps this should be good enough reason for the current PL leadership to make every effort to allow all institutions to work independently. Repeating the same mistakes of the late 1970s and 1980s might cost the PL dearly. Violence and corruption are abhorred in all forms and must not be allowed to resurface. Violence in any form, or even threats of violence, should not go by unpunished.
This brings me to three Facebook posts which have created a commotion recently.
After Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated in broad daylight, which traumatised our small community, Ramon Mifsud, a serving police sergeant, posted on his Facebook wall a status which read: “Had wara had tasal ta kulhadd demel !!!!! Feeling happy:),” loosely translated as ‘Everyone gets what they deserve, cow dung!’ After some dilly-dallying and growing public outcry, Mifsud was suspended from work on half pay.
But this despicable comment was matched by another two posts on Facebook, one by Felix Zammit and the other by Emmanuel Navarro. Immediately after Malta was severely slammed with a negative vote in the European Parliament, Zammit, a retired member of the Armed Forces of Malta, on his Facebook wall posted: “Jien ghalija dawn nies haqqhom il-forka u mhux il-forka qeda biss ghas suldat malti f kaz ta gwerra ghax jghaddi informazzjoni u jitraddixxa lil pajjizu! Dawn mhux hekk ghamlu! X tahsbu!” Roughly translated: ‘Capital punishment should also apply to these people, not just to soldiers who betray their country. Aren’t the PN MEPs doing the same thing?’
On the same day, Mr Navarro, on his Facebook wall, posted the following: “Intom specjalment int ja traditura ta pajisek mumx kundana haqkom imma naharkuwkom hajjin demmel.” This loosely translates as: ‘All of you, especially you traitor Metsola, do not only deserve condemnation but to be burned alive, cowdung.’
Zammit and Navarro saw it fit and appropriate to threaten MEP Metsola for standing her ground, together with the other two PN MEPs, during the EU Parliament debate which slammed the local authorities for not taking action to curb corruption.
But it seems some people never learn and believe that they are free to take the law into their own hands as they may deem fit without shouldering any responsibility for their action. While freedom of expression is a right and is enshrined in our laws, threatening and inciting people to acts of violence is a criminal offence.
One should not allow the days of the Inquisition to return. There are many other civilised ways and means to seek redress if anybody feels aggrieved.