The law on inciting racial hatred would be updated to include comments made against people overseas, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said.
He told the Times of Malta he would be looking at a recommendation recently made by Magistrate Aaron Bugeja who called upon legislators to widen the law’s definition after a prison warder was acquitted despite posting a comment online saying he hoped refugees were burning inside a shelter.
Magistrate Bugeja noted that the phenomenon of racism was not tied to a particular territory but went beyond Maltese waters. “This court cannot change the law itself. The law must be changed by the legislator,” he noted.
The court felt the scope of the law should be widened to also protect people not present in Malta in cases where the person expressing racial hatred was on the island.
Article 82A of the Criminal Code describes racial hatred as an act against a person or a group of people in Malta.
In October 2015, Vincent Debono, a former policeman, posted a comment below an article being shared on Facebook entitled ‘Third refugee shelter torched in Sweden in six days’. He wrote: “I hope its (sic) burning with them inside.”
It would be unwise for those making comments on the internet to feel safe
He was charged with misuse of electronic equipment and with using abusive and insulting language aimed at inciting racial hatred. The defence argued that since the comment did not refer to people within Malta’s jurisdiction Mr Debono could not be found guilty of the crime.
Racial hatred could also result from comments about situations abroad but, in this case, it appeared the court felt the comment had no potential effect in Malta, Dr Bonnici said.
He committed himself to updating the law: “It would be unwise for those making such comments on the internet to feel safe. Some countries hold that if comments made on the internet have a sufficient link to their country they will prosecute the offender even if the post was made from another country. I would therefore say: xenophobes beware.”
Lawyer Neil Falzon, who heads the human rights NGO Aditus, said the case underlined the need to strengthen the law criminalising behaviour aimed at inciting hatred or violence.
The current framework, he added, created a legal vacuum that could be very easily and quickly remedied. Thus, the Criminal Code should be immediately amended, he said, urging the police to strengthen their efforts in identifying and prosecuting perpetrators and appealing to a sense of respect and responsibility in internet use.
Opposition spokesman Clyde Puli said the Nationalist Party stood for the respect of human dignity. The party was therefore against any form of racial hatred, he said.