A man who made the Nazi salute during an anti-immigration protest in Valletta in June will be charged in court, the police have confirmed.

On June 8, some 40 people turned up in Valletta for what the police described as a “spontaneous” protest to counter a much larger demonstration in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. 

The counter protesters chanted “this is my country not yours” and booed at anti-racism protesters, while one protester was seen raising his right hand into the air in what appeared to be a Nazi salute.

Seconds later, a fellow protester who spots the man quickly pulls the arm down and appears to tell him off. 

The police identified the man and on Thursday told Times of Malta that “the divisional police are in process of charging the person making the Nazi salute in court.”

Under Maltese law, those found guilty of publicly condoning or trivialising genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against people because of their race, colour, religion or ethnic origin among others, and when their behaviour is likely to incite violence or hatred, or is threatening, abusive or insulting, could be jailed for eight months to two years.

Protests in support of the BLM movement have taken place the world over since the murder of George Floyd in the US. The unarmed black man died in Minnesota after an officer knelt on his neck for nearly eight minutes.

These demonstrations as well as more awareness about the local hate crime and speech unit have seen a recent spike in hate crime reports in Malta.