Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/538516
WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION WEDNESDAY • 8 July 2015 • issue 423 • published every wednesday and sunday €1.00 EDITORIAL PAGE 10 Newspaper post Religious vilification to be decriminalised Legal reform to make revenge porn illegal, new provisions against extreme porn MATTHEW VELLA MINISTER for justice and cul- ture Owen Bonnici has embarked on a far-reaching legal reform that will strike off criminal sanctions on blasphemy, bringing Maltese law in line with 21st century Eu- ropean laws. In a package of laws that will fine-tune the Criminal Code, Bonnici will remove laws that punish the vilification of the Ro- man Catholic religion "and other cults tolerated by law", laws that have been in place since 1933. The laws will also make 'revenge porn' punishable by a maximum two years' jail and €5,000 fine. And obscenity laws introduced in 1975 under a Labour govern- ment, which generically outlawed articles that 'unduly emphasised sex, crime, horror, cruelty and violence', will also be removed. Articles 163 and 164 of the Criminal Code carry a maximum punishment of six months' im- prisonment for the vilification of the Catholic religion, and three months' for the vilification of any other religion, when such vilifica- tion occurs "by words, gestures, written matter whether printed or not, or pictures"; or by giving offence by vilifying those who profess the religion, its ministers, of objects of worship. Article 165, which carries a maximum of one year's impris- onment for those who impede or disturb a Catholic ceremony or religious service will also be removed, but retained as a con- travention affecting public order within the Criminal Code. CONTINUES ON PAGE 2 Greece keeps Europe waiting 19 Eurozone leaders meet in Brussels for what may be last chance to avoid Grexit JURGEN BALZAN GREEK debt negotiations are set to ramble on for weeks after the new Greek finance minister failed to put forward a tangible proposal as the 19 Eurozone leaders and fi- nance ministers met in Brussels yesterday. Speaking before the summit be- gun, Prime Minister Joseph Mus- cat said the meeting was looking like a "waste of time" after Greece failed to put forward a concrete plan. "We expected to hear Greek pro- posals today but they told us that they will present them tomorrow instead. We are starting on the wrong foot," Muscat told journal- ists. Greece avoided a head-on colli- sion with German chancellor An- gela Merkel by promising to put its economic proposals in writing after being warned that "only a few days" are left to reach a deal. Greece is expected to submit a formal request for a medium-term assistance programme from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) rescue fund and Eurozone finance chiefs will discuss Greece's request in a conference call this morning. Earlier, finance minister Edward Scicluna said the new Greek fi- nance minister Euclid Tsakalotos was a "breath of fresh air" and ex- hibited "a positive" attitude in his briefing. However, Scicluna added, the Eurogroup was left frustrated af- ter yet another failure on Greece's part to submit a plan. CONTINUES ON PAGE 8 Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is expected to submit a concrete proposal today