Updated 4.58pm with judgment details

A priest who argued that being gay is worse than being possessed by the devil has been handed a suspended sentence on appeal.

David Muscat was guilty of hate speech for his comments on Facebook concerning murder accused Abner Aquilina, Judge Edwina Grima ruled as she overturned Muscat’s original acquittal and upheld an appeal filed by prosecutors.

The priest was handed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Muscat was arraigned in January 2022 and charged with incitement to hatred or violence over comments about homosexuality, after he wrote on Facebook that Aquilina was gay, bisexual or possessed by the devil and that “gayness” was worse than being possessed. 

Aquilina stands accused of the rape and murder of Polish student Paulina Dembska in January 2022.

A magistrate’s court had dismissed the case against Muscat, concluding that the priest had not intended to incite hatred or violence and was merely “expressing an opinion”.

The Attorney General appealed that decision, and on Wednesday a court of appeal overturned the original verdict.

Judge Grima ruled that it was not necessary for the publication - in this case, Muscat's comments on Facebook, to have been done with the specific intention of inciting hatred or violence. 

If the writing, taken within the context of the particular circumstances of the case, gave rise to the probability of inciting hatred, then the crime was committed. 

Muscat's comments were made against the background of a macabre murder. 

He was totally extraneous to the case and a priest to boot, but had attributed adjectives and medical conditions to a person he did not know. 

Moreover, he likened gay people to sick people and worse still, to those possessed by the devil. 

He ought to have known that such comments were dangerous, likely to instigate contempt and hatred towards such sexually oriented persons, the court said. 

The court was morally convinced that the priest's words were totally derogatory, not only in respect of gays and bisexuals but also those suffering from mental illness. 

Finally, the court could not help observe that although the legislator did not provide for any aggravating factor, when the person posting such comments had a greater influence on society as in this case, they were done intentionally to cause a greater and stronger impact. 

Muscat's vocation was to preach tolerance and therefore comments of the sort had far wider and more serious implications because of the numerous followers, the judge concluded. 

Lawyer Etienne Savona represented the Attorney General's office. Muscat was represented by lawyers Mariah Mula and Christopher Attard.