Wednesday, 15th October 2008 - 14:14CET
Norman Lowell loses appeal case
The Criminal Court of Appeal has declared null an appeal by Normal Lowell from a Magistrates’ Court judgement which had found him guilty of inciting racial hatred and insulting the President of Malta in speeches in Rabat and Qawra in 2006. He had been handed a two-year jail term suspended for four years, and fined €500.
The Appeals Court declared the appeal application null and and abstained from further consideration of the case.
In comments outside the court, Mr Lowell, leader of the right-wing Imperium Europa party, said “the fight for liberty goes on”.
His defence counsel, Emy Bezzina, said the court had rejected the appeal on a technicality, finding that the statement of facts was too brief. The court, he said, had not gone into the merits of the case, which centred on freedom of expression.
He said that as a consequence of this decision, the suspended jail term now became operative. As a result, Mr Lowell would not be allowed to stand as a candidate for the European Parliament elections in June.
Dr Bezzina said this was viewed by Mr Lowell as a denial of his rights in a democracy, and a constitutional case would be filed.
He said that if needed, the case would also be taken before the European institutions.
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Comments
I would like to live in a society where if someone has a different belief/opinion, he would not be suppressed but be given the chance to express his views and then whoever disagrees would have the opportunity to challenge this belief/opinion with valid arguments and not with oppression. The best way to 'beat' a fallacious belief/opinion, is not to suppress it with taboos or fear of being labeled racist etc, but to counter-debate it.
In all of this, many people seem to be forgetting that wise old Maltese saying - "Ħanqa ta’ ħmar qatt ma telgħet is-sema” It appears to apply admirably to Norman Lowell.
This is not to say that we should ignore Norman Lowell’s extremist racist views. We must be careful not to make the same mistakes that the German people made in the 1920s and 1930s when they underestimated a certain Austrian ex-corporal. Germany, and the entire world, paid a heavy price for that mistake. We must keep a watchful eye on the likes of Norman Lowell and we certainly must make every effort – by not voting for him – to prevent him from representing Malta in the European Parliament where he can humiliate our nation by presenting his extremist views as those of our nation.
Where is democracy?
Dont you think?
We must keep a watchful eye on the likes of Norman Lowell and we certainly must make every effort – by not voting for him – to prevent him from representing Malta in the European Parliament where he can humiliate our nation by presenting his extremist views as those of our nation.
'pro EU' hahaha
@ A Caruana - One is not discussing whether we have a problem with illegal immigrants here, but merely on the way Mr. Lowell tackles the said problem. Would you be prepared to put them back on a boat and shoot to down it? Ask yourself this, as these and more are the kind of comments Mr Lowell makes.
Mr Lowell, though, spoke out for the first time after the emergence of Gorg Haider in Austria (the same one who had issues with wheelchair bound people, you will remember).
Similarly, Lowell thinks he is the enlightened one who believes white man is stronger than others.
This lack of tolerance has nothing to do with the influx of illegal immigrants, which should be tackled in legal ways, other than those suggested by the Lowell/Muscat/black parade.
This lack of tolerance is a paranoid craving for attention. The more importance you give him, the more we'll hear from him.
If you look at Malta 5 years ago and now you see a lot of difference. Even a recent article on the Time mentioned and highlighted this problem with regards the birthrate and the influx of illegals. I must say that whether we like it or not we are headed to a multi-cultural Malta. If this is ok with you then laugh at Lowell....but honestly i do believe the consequences brought by a multi-cultural society are quite tough to withstand especially when certain cultures will outnumber your culture.
Look at London and you will see Malta in the near future. In UK there was another Lowell style person who was criticized from all sides. What he foretold came a reality. Remember that at the end of the day a nation's culture is dictated by the majority having that same culture. It wont change in a year or two ... but it will.
While I agree that persons robbed of the chance to vote for an individual robbed of the right to participate in an election should weigh their options and attempt to find 'the next best path' to attaining their will (which is what the political process 'should' be about) I feel that choosing not to vote is not quite the joke that you make it out to be.
You yourself display gross engrossment within a system where a citizen 'has' (as per that which you imply in your comment) to choose between the items laid upon a table. As one so versed in indulging in the culinary, you yourself would understand that there comes a point where the best option is to simply stand up and leave the hopeless establishment in search of better.
This is precisely the will expressed by the people that you so readily rubbish - so absorbed within the reflection gleened off of the bubble which surrounds you that you have reduced the spring of your personal development to a dusty trickle.
Awaken once again. You are capable of better and the light shall welcome your return.
"In the absence of Norman at the forthcoming MEP elections, who may one vote for now,. . ."
Maybe Damian Iwueke will stand again. I'm sure 'Norman' will want you to give him your vote.
Although he was hard in his speeches, his message was that action should be taken to control this illegal situation. It was only during the last days that Europe accepted to help voluntary in our delicate and hard situation. Malta had to tackle this situation alone or to be fair with very little aid from some countries including America.
It was reported that ' the court had rejected the appeal on a technicality, finding that the statement of facts was too brief'.
I hope that Mr Lowell will file a constitutional case.
You could have condensed your long post to just 2 words. VOTE PN
In any case, even if he won a seat, that seat would not just be used of the illegal immigration case. There are a million other issues Lowell would have to handle and which are way beyond him.
I am all for freedom of expression but there is always a limit, especially if the speech incites hatred (on any grounds).
I really agree with you the first thing that should be banned in our country are political mass meetings as from what I see (on TV) they are always inciting hatred
But it speaks volumes about some people's analytical prowess.
To those several people who are saying that they will vote for those who take a stand against migrants - please remember that today an agreement is being signed with this in mind.
It is funny how the MLP was ok with it when our Dear Dr. Muscat was in Lybia, when he came back it was back to the 'Malta Le Party'
Or does Dr. Muscat think that with his extensive experience in the Europe he did not want us to join is going to stop these people.
Wake up and grow up!!!
Malta needs support and aid in this situation - it is not going to go away because we stop a boat from coming into Malta - that will just get us a bad image (kind of like Mr Lowell) what we need to do is get Europe's help with burden sharing!!!
Is this a typical Maltese case of 'one says black so the other must say white' - that's opposition right? Only in Malta!!
He is not at all the champion of the fight against illegal immigration.
He is the champion in the creation of a superior race, and for him all those who do not qualify to form part of his imaginary superior race should be eliminated from this world !
Is there anyone of you writing in his favour, really really sure that you form part of his imaginary superior race.
Let us also not forget that he has also continually tried to ridicule our language as "il-lingwa tal-bigilla". .Do you really want to have such a person to represent you in the European parliament ?
Well maybe you do deserve him. Birds of the same feather flock together.
You want action against illegal immigration? Go to the EU, do it the civil way. It was everyone's promised land a few years ago, why has it all changed now? Have you lost your European credentials down some drain, to become intolerant zealots who would follow a stick wielding man crying out that we should fire at the boat people?
Someone mentioned AN. Fat joke. Would you trust the state coffers in the hands of someone who promised to airlift all the migrants to Brussels.
These extremists are sooo full of contradictions.
You say only he speaks out against illegal immigration. But he only speaks out against the Africans - he himself made it clear numerous times that he does not mind the while immigrants from Eastern Europe as they our our 'cousins' , racially speaking.
I am all for multiculturalism and learning the beauty of the different cultures in this world. Lowell doesn't realise there's nothing whatsoever 'unique' about the Maltese culture that we can preserve - what we have now is the result of long years of colonialism. And if he is such a patriot , why can't he say a sentence in Maltese without mixing it with English, Italian or Latin? How unpatriotic is that?
show the goverment what we,the people, think about it.
Well done Miss! Next time I suggest that you vote the Nationalist Party. You know why..... Don't trust other parties, other than the P.N. PROSIT tassew!
Charles Coleiro
Despite my sympathy I can never condone nor support your action - inciting is tantamount to hatred, and this is a crime not only in Malta but also in Europe.
Other politicians and public figures need to be very careful about what they say and Mr Lowell should be no exception
He incited racial hatred and insulted the President. He broke the law and the Courts have a Constitutional duty to arrest him.
If he disagreed with the law he should have gotten himself elected to Parliament and changed the law. But he didn't so there's nothing wrong being done here.
The elite in this world are clinging to power using every means possible.The so called Democracies like the USA are not Democratic at all.Scratch the surface away from any Western Kleptocracy and you find nothing more than money grubbing selfish and lawless criminals.Just look at the world financial crisis and see the Kleptocrats bailing out the swindlers with YOUR money. People like Lowell are a danger to these powers as he was not afraid to put them in their true light.It is a sorry day for true Justice but the world is closing in.
To my knowledge, insulting the President of the Republic is not exercising freedom of speech. Nor his continuous blabbing against African migrants.
This man is in constant contradiction... defending Maltese ideals whilst calling your party Imperium Europa (not even Ewropa!!)
No person coming out with racist comments, especially one who is quasi in the public eye should be left unpunished. My only regret is that it is a suspended prison term.
To then even think that this person could be an MEP is even more fearful.
Ultimately I believe that Mr. Lowell is a common jester who entertains those with an ounce of sense. I do believe in weighing all people by what they say and what he says is just comical, without substance and quite frankly dangerous.
However in my opinion, I think he was one of the first presons who reailized, or made public his realization, that illegal immigration was a serious problem. At that time a lot of us, including myself, used to hear his speeches and laugh at his opinion that one day these immigrants would pose a heavy brunt on both the finances and the cultural status of the country. On Monday and Tuesday both discussion programs on PBS looked into the problem from these points of views. One must also say that Norman went out of the line with his solutions but again he looks at politics from a pre-1940 lens.
As for the Appeal decision, I think Mr.Lowell has been given a clear message. Although I think that the decision is a little bit heavy considering the load of insults and misconceptioned ideas we were exposed to during the electoral campaign and no court action has been taken against these. The ahna u intom reasoning in the electoral campaign those sometimes border the racial hatred borders
That is what it is all about then! That is what 'freedom of expression' leads to in this 'democracy'. Make no mistake about it though - THE RIGHT WILL BE VINDICATED JUST WAIT AND SEE!
NO GONZI OR MUSCAT - YOU WILL STILL NOT GET MY VOTE!
Prospective voters in the EP elections for Lowell, do not waste your vote. Use it wisely as you would have done had Lowell not been denied his rights.