At the European Parliament I sit on the EU-Turkey joint parliamentary committee. Throughout the years I have made various interventions both on the print media and during the joint parliamentary sessions, particularly in Ankara on May 3, 2006. I was one who, from the start, criticised the lack of religious freedom in Turkey and of a distinct separation between the state and Islam. I slammed them for lack of transparency and freedom of expression and I was one of those who condemned the Islamic reaction to the publication of the Mohammed cartoons on the European media.

Together with the vast majority of Europeans and, I dare say, the absolute majority of the Maltese, I was appalled by the lack of common sense shown by the Muslims and urged them to get in touch with reality and accept freedom of press as a fact and as a right in a modern world, a reality of the 21st century. Hundreds of reams of paper were used; thousands of column inches printed throughout the world; editorials, news coverage, special programmes, web blogs and a million other fora were dedicated to the subject, all urging governments in Islamic countries to open their minds and be mature and treat the situation within context. After a few months this sad story was archived and almost forgotten.

Then, a couple of years later, in a tiny village in Gozo a group of young men (probably Catholic) decided to dress up as priests to celebrate carnival, a festival traditionally held in Roman Catholic countries and which has, for centuries, formed part of the Christian calendar, as is the case in Malta and Gozo where it has been celebrated since 1535. Carnival as we know it is a period where anything out of the norm is accepted within the parameters of the law. This group of young men, probably instigated by the government's promotion of the event, labelling Nadur's carnival as one of the best in Europe, headed to Gozo, with a record number of Maltese and tourists, to enjoy a few days of laughter and make fun of themselves.

This they did without bothering to log on to http://www2.justice.gov.mt/lom/home.asp to see what costumes one should or should not wear for such an event. Little did they know that our laws offered such generous guidelines, so unbeknown to them that they headed to the village to attend the festival and commit a crime: the heinous crime of being in a Catholic country in a Catholic village dressed as a Catholic character, pretty much in the same way they would probably be dressed in the Good Friday procession or in a passion drama in a few weeks' time in their respective villages.

They obviously left an impression because they were even photographed together with other "criminals" dressed up as politicians and soldiers who should also have been arrested.

Likewise, we should have arrested all those tourists dressed up as notorious dictators and famous royal personalities in full army regalia.

All this in the name of festivity and good humour; all this to promote this carnival.

A few days later, to my surprise, a reveller ended up in court and this was not a continuation of the festival; it was reality. Now whether you can call this humour is another matter. Some centuries-old law apparently dictates what one can wear or not wear during the three days' reign of folly, as carnival is often referred to in Malta and Gozo.

Our state decided to prosecute, our police and the magistrate had no options and they had to prosecute and pass judgment accordingly.

But Parliament now has an option; we have an option. Actually, we have two options: change the law and permit only Zorro and Cinderella costumes to be worn, or else be serious, open-minded and update our mentality before we even update our laws while putting the onus on the public not to offend anyone's sentiment during this much-publicised and awaited festival that has seen such a surge throughout these last years because it offered something different, something refreshing and a genuine humour to those who attend, especially during this period when almost all the news is negative, bordering on the boring.

We have all witnessed carnivals in other countries where the floats portray politicians and other famous personalities, and all this is taken with a pinch of salt. We all watch daily Italian programmes or the famous Fantozzi movies. We all had a laugh and no one ended up in gaol, least of all Paolo Villaggio, who played various known characters.

We have to be able to laugh at ourselves, and carnival offers this opportunity. I sincerely hope that this sad incident won't send us back to the Middle Ages and will not tarnish the image of Nadur's carnival, which should be the epitome of humour and a living symbol of the liberties enjoyed by our citizens.

Mr Casa is a Nationalist member of the European Parliament.

david@davidcasa.eu, www.davidcasa.eu