The global soul-searching sparked by George Floyd’s murder in the US has reached Malta, with activists planning a solidarity sit-in on Monday.

Organised by a group of youths including people of colour, the event will take place at 6pm in front of parliament in Valletta.

A spokesperson told Times of Malta the event is not a protest but a peaceful and silent sit-down in solidarity with anti-racism protests in the US and the world.

Carrying the tagline ‘Black Lives Matter in Malta’ it will also be calling for justice for Lassana Cisse, a man killed in cold-blood in an alleged racially motivated drive-by shooting.

The spokesperson said the organisers were calling for swifter legal proceedings: “Justice should be served at a quicker pace, just as is done for important cases.”

The two soldiers charged with Cisse’s murder are out on bail.

Apart from the murder of the 42-year-old, they are also being accused of the attempted murder of another two men and a hit-and-run.

The granting of bail has instilled fear, a sense of humiliation and disappointment among black people and the migrant community. 

Kick-starting a conversation on racism in Malta

The sit-in organisers hope that tomorrow’s event will kick off a much-needed discussion on systematic racism and racial issues in Malta. 

According to an internal inquiry which consisted of interviews with Armed Forces of Malta personnel, there are no signs of racism in the AFM ranks.

But a year since Cisse’s death there is fear of renewed racism in Malta.

When eight residents at the Ħal Far open centre contracted the coronavirus and the place was put under quarantine in April, social media was flooded with racist comments directed at migrants. 

Floyd murder ripples felt in Malta

More recently, the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes as he told him “I can’t breathe”, has rekindled hate speech in Malta. 

International goalkeeper Rashed Al-Tumi was the target of abuse earlier this week on Facebook from Manuel Pisani, a San Ġwann Youth Nursery official, who has since been sacked.

Under a post condemning the murder of Floyd, Pisani dehuminised black people and said they should be sent to Africa. He also urged Malta-born Al-Tumi to “go back to his country”.

Similarly, Birkirkara midfielder Yannick Yankam was recently part of a LovinMalta live-streamed debate about Floyd.

A viewer left racist and derogatory language under the stream, at one point referring to Yankam and another young Maltese man as “jungle monkeys”.

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