A Valletta shop owner who used a fake Facebook profile to threaten Repubblika president Robert Aquilina has had his punishment confirmed on appeal in spite of being cleared of one of the charges which was time-barred.

Joseph Camenzuli, hiding behind the profile of ‘Mario Borg,’ had reacted to one of Aquilina’s Facebook posts, venting frustration after his business was impacted by the street protests organised by the NGO in Valletta.

“We’re quiet until you make us angry… you’ve already annoyed me in Valletta and let me tell you, start being afraid when you’re alone in Valletta,” ran the comment in Maltese, posted in March last year.

The threatening message was flagged to police, sparking an investigation by the Cybercrime Unit which turned to Facebook for information to track down the real identity of the user behind that post.

In November, Camenzuli was charged under summons, admitting to having insulted and threatened Aquilina, misuse of electronic communications equipment and threatening the commission of an offence.

When he took the witness stand he claimed that he bore no grudge against Aquilina, apologised, and explained that his comment had been misinterpreted.

“My shop is near parliament and all of us shop owners were angry about those protests…The post was only about those protests,” he said.

He was declared guilty and was fined €3,000.

Upon appeal, his lawyer, David Gatt argued that the first charge was time-barred because it was contraventional in nature and thus subject to a three-month prescription.

That argument was upheld by Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera who, however, rejected the rest of the appellant’s arguments.

This was no defamatory comment open to interpretation, observed the court.

“The comment which the appellant personally admitted to posting on Facebook appeared to be clear, reflecting his anger.”

It was no excuse to argue that the comment was made “in the heat of the moment.”

The judge said this was not a remark referring simply to shop owners running businesses near parliament. Although Camenzuli may have been angered by civil society’s protests, it was no justification to post such a comment on a fake account and clearly in a threatening tone.

When meting out punishment, the court must take note of all circumstances including the interests of the victim, society and accused, the judge went on. 

In this case, the charges for which Camenzuli was found guilty carried a maximum fine of €23,293, said Madam Justice Scerri Herrera, adding that although the €3,000 fine might seem somewhat harsh, it fell well within legal parameters and actually tended towards the minimum.

The court thus cleared the appellant of the first charge but confirmed the rest of the judgment.

Lawyer David Gatt assisted the appellant.

Lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia appeared parte civile before the first court.