Justin Haber resigns from Floriana local council after beheading threat
Ex-footballer was found guilty of threatening sister last week
Updated 4.40pm with Labour Party statement
Justin Haber has announced his resignation from the Floriana local council, after the retired footballer was found guilty of threatening to behead his sister.
In a statement on Facebook on Monday afternoon, Haber said that following a meeting with PL deputy leader Alex Agius Saliba, he had submitted his resignation.
"I am doing this out of respect and loyalty to the Labour Party and to those who elected me last June," he wrote.
In a brief statement issued Monday afternoon, the Labour Party insisted it is "against all forms of violence and expresses solidarity with the victims."
"A meeting with Mr Justin Haber was held earlier today. After a discussion with Labour Party Deputy Leader Alex Agius Saliba, Haber decided to resign as a Floriana Labour councillor," the PL said.
Haber, a former goalkeeper who won 54 caps for the Maltese national team, was handed a restraining order by a court last week, after admitting under oath that on January 8 he sent his sister Pearl Vella Haber a voice message in which he threatened to behead her. He had initially pleaded not guilty.
Haber was first elected to the Floriana local council in 2022 after contesting on the Labour ticket.
Agius Saliba had earlier told Times of Malta that a decision on Haber's fate would be taken by the party's administration by end of business on Monday.
In a voice message heard in court, Haber, 43, can be heard telling his sister that she is stressing their mother with her behaviour.
"Mum is very, very worried. If you keep this up, she will suffer. If something happens to mum because of you, I will cut your [expletive] head off," he said.
His sister, who testified that she feared her brother, subsequently filed a police report. The police investigated and opted to press charges.
The woman told the court it was the second time she had gone to the police following threats made by her brother.
Magistrate Nadia Vella found him guilty and issued a restraining order against him, forbidding him from approaching or contacting his sister for one year. Should he fail to abide by those terms, he will be liable to a €2,000 fine.
Following the verdict, Haber’s sister took to Facebook to “set the record” straight on what she claimed was a history of abuse by her brother.
“Last Tuesday, I faced my greatest bully in court,” she said, as she described her brother as a “textbook narcissistic abuser” and recounted how he physically assaulted her from an early age.
She said silence in her family was “more important than truth” and said her parents would support him.