The leader of a religious political party announced on live television debate on abortion how he had filed a police complaint against pro-choice activists taking part in the show.
ABBA leader Ivan Grech Mintoff said on TVM's Popolin that he filed a police complaint on Wednesday, before the show, asking the police to investigate pro-choice activists to confirm if they have been breaking Malta's criminal law.
The show debated abortion, and the panel featured four guests – two pro-life, Ivan Grech Mintoff and gynaecologist George Gregory Buttigieg - and two pro-choice guests, Women’s Right’s Foundation founder, Lara Dimitrijevic and Natalie Psaila, a doctor specialising in family medicine.
This is not the first time Mintoff Grech filed a similar complaint.
Back in March, he filed a police complaint demanding criminal investigations into 18 pro-choice activists and organisations.
The party specifically named the NGOs and individuals - including both Dimitrijevic and Psaila - it wanted the police to investigate.
During Wednesday's programme, Grech Mintoff showed a copy of the police complaint and called for the police to take action.
“ABBA is determined that the death of children will never be introduced,” he said.
“When you see a robbery taking place, you ask the police to investigate. We have clear proof that these organisations such as Family Planning Advisory Services, have committed crimes and we want the police to investigate.”
When pressed about what proof he has, he said it is in the hands of the police to do their work.
He claimed police had stopped investigations back in March because Prime Minister Robert Abela intervened.
“The day after we reported to the police, Prime Minister decided to attack us because we did his job for him, we spotted a potential crime and reported it,” he said.
“The police immediately stopped (investigations)."
Contacted by Times of Malta on Friday, Mintoff refused to say what proof he had, saying instead his legal advice was to keep this under wraps as it may interfere with police investigations.
“We have 100% proof of criminal acts, this time even more than what we had in March,” he insisted.
'Not going to silence me'
Following his accusations, Lara Dimitrijevic said she refused to be intimidated.
“Such petty tactics are not going to ever silence me,” she told Times of Malta.
“On the contrary, they just make me more determined. It is nothing but a confirmation of his party’s misogyny.”
She said she is not scared of any proof that he may allegedly have, as the organisations are doing nothing illegal.
In a statement on Facebook, Doctors for Choice Malta said Grech Mintoff's actions were a form of intimidation.
The NGO pointed out a similar tactic that was carried out during the National Youth Parliament when pro-choice students dropped out of a debate on abortion after their names were leaked online.
Malta is the only EU country that completely bans abortion and has one of the world’s strictest anti-abortion laws. Women who abort their pregnancies or attempt to carry out their own miscarriage, and any individual who aides them in doing so, risk a minimum of 18 months to a maximum of three years imprisonment if found guilty.
In the past five years, no person has faced criminal charges for getting an abortion or providing the means to terminate a pregnancy in Malta.
Andrea Prudente, a US woman who was denied a request to terminate a non-viable pregnancy while holidaying in Malta back in June, has initiated a legal battle against the country's blanket ban on abortion.