Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1477650
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 31 AUGUST 2022 NEWS Accused's phones contained chats with people linked to 'a political party' CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The court heard how a police search of the accused's phones revealed chats with people linked to 'a political party' sup- plying information about can- didates who were to pass their driving test. The political party was not mentioned in court but it is plausible to conclude that the reference was to the Labour Party given the Zammit link and the fact that Mansueto was close to an individual with known links to former trans- port minister Ian Borg. Borg, who is now foreign minister, has denied pressur- ing Transport Malta officials to make sure certain candidates pass their driving tests. Under police questioning, Mansueto told police that he was pressured by a minister, who was not named in court, into helping certain individuals pass their driving test. The individuals allegedly were working on the minister's villa. Investigators seized diaries for 2021 and 2022, belonging to Mansueto which contained around 250 names. Police are matching those names with text messages and other infor- mation to determine whether they were all granted preferen- tial treatment. Times of Malta yesterday re- ported that most of the names were listed as "appointments" but in certain cases, the names, ID cards and dates correspond- ed precisely with the date the individuals sat, and passed their driving exam. The three TM employees have meanwhile been suspend- ed on half-pay until court pro- ceedings are over. "Employees charged in court are suspended. Transport Malta continuously works to improve its procedures," a spokesperson for the authority told MaltaToday. On Monday, MaltaToday separately asked Prime Minis- ter Robert Abela whether he is seeking any clarifications from his current cabinet of ministers on the matter. "The Office of the Prime Min- ister is not aware of any charg- es having been issued against any government minister, or of any pending judicial proceed- ings," a spokesperson said. MATTHEW VELLA THE might of one of Malta's two police unions – the Malta Po- lice Union – is being marshalled against a black woman whose TikTok commentary is being paraded by outraged social me- dia users. The MPU filed a criminal com- plaint with the Commissioner of Police, because a social media user called the corps "pufta" – a homophobic slur. "They're like the Saudi police... they don't take action when you call to report someone, and in- stead they give your name to the criminal," the social media user, a regular for some time on Tik- Tok, said. The MPU claims the video "contains offensive words and false accusations against the members of the Malta Police Union." The irony of the police asking itself to investigate alleged in- sults, will not be lost on those who have accused the force of being lenient with far more pow- erful actors in Maltese society – politicians mainly. Additionally, the social media user Mona60000 is non-Maltese, speaks Arabic, outspoken in her own right, and black. Even Marsa's Labour mayor Josef Azzopardi has taken um- brage at the "derogatory words". "Unfortunately, the police must deal with ungrateful people who provoke them and cause trou- ble, some of whom believe that they are above the law and that they can do as they please on our streets." In the veritable jungle of self- made opinions and malicious livestreams, in Malta TikTok has created tiny phenonmenons of social outcasts streaming from living rooms and bedrooms to the late hours, the ostentatious display of personal wealth, and spiteful cat fights between easily provoked users. The false outrage over Mo- na60000 also stems from her shrill complaints on TikTok where she accuses the Maltese of outright racism, unjust police scrutiny, and online hate against black people. "Why do you enjoy it when for- eigners are killed?" she asks in the short clips so typical of Tik- Tok. Users who reply to her vide- os disbelieve her high-pitched, contemptuous complaints. But the "police insult" video was picked up by Labour appa- ratchik Manuel Cuschieri. Cuschieri, who recently sug- gested that Labour politicians would be investigated unfairly by magistrates and police over allegations of corruption, post- ed the Mona60000 video saying "Unacceptable. Nobody has the right to insult our country's po- lice. I don't care if they are Mal- tese, Gozitan, foreign... whoever takes such liberties, must have steps taken against them." The law on 'insults' Due to legal amendments that came into force in May 2018, words declared or published on social media with the aim of slandering a person cannot be considered a criminal offence for the purposes of the Media and Defamation Act. In the case of Pulizija vs Rita Scerri, the accused stood trial for Facebook comments posted against a victim that included insults and profanity. The Court referred to the judgement given by the Court of Criminal Appeal in the case of Police vs Francis Frendo (2008) where the Court interpreted a threat as something that pro- duces fear of future aggression. When a person is threatened, the agent must have been ex- posing the victim to a specific unjust harm. It was held that the words stated by the accused did not amount to threats, and although they may have been inappropri- ate, slander cannot be consid- ered a crime. Although the Court did not give a judgement on the first charge, it said that there could be no fault found in this regard. The accused was liberated from all guilt in relation to the second charge. It was, therefore, concluded that she was not guilty. Police union joins TikTok lynching with demand for prosecution for 'insults' TikTok user Mona60000