Pressure group highlights racism, violence in Paceville

The pressure group Moviment Graffitti has condemned the "rampant racism" following an incident in Paceville in which an immigrant was the alleged victim of a bouncer's violent aggression.

The group said this would not be an isolated incident and asked for immediate action to be taken to tackle the problem in Paceville.

On Monday, a 29-year-old security guard, Duncan Deguara, was charged with seriously injuring Sudanese national Suleiman Abubaker on May 29 at about 3.30 a.m. The prosecuting officer told the court the victim was drunk and the bouncer stopped him from entering the club.

Graffitti said that although other persons in Paceville tended to be drunk, they did not get beaten every time they tried to enter a club. It was no secret that black persons were not allowed into the majority of clubs in Paceville, especially when they had an ID card showing they were immigrants, it added. This had been witnessed several times by members of Moviment Graffitti who, accompanied by black persons, tried to enter different establishments in Paceville.

More often than not, they were stopped at the door and not allowed to enter. In cases where they attempted to protest the bouncers' decision, they risked violent aggression, the group claimed.