Women’s lobby backs Pearl Vella Haber after brother’s conviction for threats

A Women’s lobby on Saturday expressed its full support and solidarity with Peal Vella Haber, after she spoke out about why she filed charges against her brother, who was found guilty of threatening to behead her. 

Earlier this week, Justin Haber, a Floriana councillor and former football player, was handed a restraining order after a court found him guilty of threatening his sister. 

While Haber pleaded not guilty to criminal charges upon his arraignment, he subsequently admitted under oath that on January 8 he sent his sister a voice message in which he threatened to behead her. 

“Mum is very, very worried. If you keep this up, she will suffer,” Haber told his sister in the voice message. 

“If something happens to mum because of you, I will cut your (expletive) head off,” he said.

Pearl took to Facebook on Friday to “set the record” straight and the lobby expressed its solidarity with her after she “bravely shared her deeply personal account of lifelong abuse” from 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. 

She recalled one incident in 2014, when she did not bring him a particular drink, which she said led to him trying to strangle her. She said he mocked her in court when the incident was brought up.

“When I reported it, my parents kicked me out of the house,” she said, noting how her mother asked her for the house keys. 

“That moment still breaks me,” she said.

In January 2025, she said she received an “unprovoked, threatening” voice message from her brother, and two months later, he posted a video on social media of her. 

“This is not drama. This is a pattern. This is the truth. And I refuse to be silent anymore,” she said.

“To those commenting ‘X’għaġeb’ under news articles and belittling my story- ask yourself what message you’re sending to your daughters. That threats and emotional abuse are fine, as long as the abuser is charming? Talented? Popular?”

Lobby supports Vella Haber standing up to her bully

In its statement on Saturday, the lobby said in deciding to speak her truth, Vella Haber has shown immense “courage and resilience”.

“Her voice, long suppressed by fear, family denial, and societal expectations, now breaks the silence that so many women continue to live under. Her experience is not an isolated one- it is a mirror of the countless untold stories of women who have endured psychological, emotional, and physical abuse, often at the hands of those closest to them.”

The Lobby commended Vella Haber not only for her strength in facing her abuser in court, but also for choosing to stand against public ridicule, online victim-blaming and the ongoing culture of gaslighting. 

“Her testimony shines a necessary spotlight on generational abuse, covert narcissism, and the complicity of silence,” the statement read. 

The lobby ended the statement by calling out to survivors to let them know their truth matters, and to society to not label abuse as drama. They said abuse should not be seen as a private matter and it is not excusable because of “status, charm or public image”.

“Speaking up can be terrifying- especially when your abuser is someone powerful or close to you. But your voice has power. Every time one woman speaks up, she paves the way for others to do the same. Let this be a moment of collective reckoning, and a call for action.”