Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/329964
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 15 JUNE 2014 3 News Earth Garden DJs targeted by 'discriminatory' legal action TEODOR RELJIC THE refusal to allow DJs to per- form at the Earth Garden festival last weekend – based on prior drug convictions – has been slammed as "discriminatory" by one of the DJs affected by the decision. Stressing that the team behind Earth Garden were willing to coop- erate with the police and that they hope a more reasonable compro- mise could be found in the future, Earth Garden organiser Reuben Spiteri also lamented the apparently inconsistent way that DJs have been targeted. "What I find particularly strange is that this particular law applies only to DJs… if you're a singer or a guitar player, you're exempt from having to submit your police conduct…" Spiteri told MaltaToday that, prior to the festival, the Earth Garden or- ganisers were asked to submit the list of DJs set to play during the three-day festival. Having complied with this request, they were then told that a handful of DJs on the list would have to be barred from performing owing to prior drug convictions – some of them going back to over two decades ago, and for minor offences such as being caught with a single joint. It was claimed that this has been "happening since the 90s" and that this particular case elicited public attention only owing to the fact that Earth Garden is a fairly prominent event in the summer cultural calen- dar. "At the end of the day, the festival went on more or less as planned – rather than the organisers, it's the performers who were affected. We're more than willing to give our input to the authorities whenever we can, because ideally the law should tackle these things on a case-by-case basis: for example, I would never let some- one who is trafficking drugs perform at my concert – it's just not in my interest. But when it comes to cases that took place years ago, and where the sentence was served, I think we should be reasonable and accept that anyone can make a mistake." One of the DJs affected by the legal action spoke to MaltaToday on con- dition of anonymity, and similarly complained that the law appears to be far too arbitrary. "I'm not sure if it is even legal, let alone fair. If it is legal, it is definitely infringing on the rights of the in- dividual, since no one can be pre- vented from carrying out any legal activity unless it is part of one's court sentence," the DJ said. Having been barred from perform- ing due to a conviction which dates back to nine years ago, the DJ said that since he had already served his sentence, he shouldn't be prevented from continuing to pursue any ac- tivities. "The case isn't even on my police conduct. As I see it, it's putting a lot of discretionary power in the hands of the police, whose job isn't to judge or come to conclusions, but to fol- low procedure. Any legal mecha- nism that bars an individual from performing an activity should have a recourse system," the DJ said, while also asking why DJs in particular are being targeted. "Why aren't band and live acts also the subject of such scrutiny? And if we don't want to give a bad influence to minors, why was Snoop Dogg brought over and allowed to perform in front of thousands of people?" the DJ asked, in reference to the Isle of MTV 2011 performance by the pop- ular American hip-hop performer… whose predilection for marijuana is no secret. Contacted for comment, the Min- istry of Justice and Culture said that "this practice has been established in the Police Force during the past years and essentially it has the aim to protect vulnerable young people. "However if this practice leads to persons with simple possession con- victions which happened years ago to being barred from DJ-ing, this gives rise to a legitimate concern. "The Ministry, assisted by the Of- fice of the Attorney General, will engage with the Police Corps, to ex- amine this practice. "If there is need for rationalising this practice, as in other circum- stances, this government will surely be pro-active." Speaking to MaltaToday yesterday, the Earth Garden organisers said that they have since met with the ministry to discuss a way forward. treljic@mediatoday.com.mt JOHN PISANI AN elderly man, thought to be over 90 years old, was yesterday found dead in the sea at St Paul's Bay. The man's body was retrieved by the police early in the morn- ing after the corpse was spot- ted at the site of il-Bajja tal- Għazzenin. The man was found with a noose tied around his neck, and a concrete brick tied to the end of the rope. Although investiga- tions are continuing, the police are ruling out foul play. The man's body was recovered from beside the quay. Forensics and medical expert Mario Scerri was on site and will be carrying out the first tests. Neighbours witnessing the re- covery of the corpse from the sea told MaltaToday that the man in question was a retired fisherman. Police retrieve dead body from sea at St Paul's Bay PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD DJs performing at this year's edition of Earth Garden – though not all of their colleagues got to enjoy that privilege PHOTOGRAPHY BY TONIO LOMBARDI