Police call for 'prudence' from Fr Montebello

C.ZARB

Mar 5th 2010, 20:00

@ D Galea And many are too quick to cry wolf without having the necessary information to do so. I don't think that is very christian to do. @ Mr Smith. The bigger picture is that a policeman got injured by a criminal while doing his job and instead of investing our time in finding ways to prevent this thing from happen again, we are wasting it justifying petty allegations from a person who seemed that he did not had the decency to re-check his information sources. Is it Christian to do so Mr Smith? I doubt it. If the police can prove that Fr Montebello was wrong then they should take him to court like any other person guilty of doing so. Don't worry our courts are fairly fair, especially when compared to what was called the 'Christian' court (ie Inquisition).

Martin Cassar

Mar 5th 2010, 18:38

@ JCMicallef Times of Malta Friday, 5th March 2010 http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100305/world-news/vatican-usher-linked-to-prostitution This goes to confirm that the absolute freedom you are thinking about is an absolute fiction. Please read: One of Pope Benedict's ceremonial ushers and a member of an elite choir in St Peter's Basilica have been implicated in a gay prostitution ring, in the latest sexual scandal to taint the Vatican. Ghinedu Ehiem, a Nigerian, was dismissed by the Vatican on Wednesday from the Giulia Choir after his name appeared in transcripts of police wiretaps, published by an Italian newspaper, in an unrelated Italian investigation. The wiretaps were carried out in connection with a probe into corruption in contracts to build public works, including the planned venue in Sardinia of last year's G8 summit. The summit was eventually moved to the Abruzzo region as part of efforts to help it recover from an earthquake.

Denis Catania

Mar 5th 2010, 17:19

The Police, AFM and custom agents work hard and put their lives on the line to keep Malta safe and rescue these people. Fr Montebello is being fooled by false statements. We have trust in the Maltese police and we should applaud them for the work they due concerning illegal immigration. After an arrest and conviction in the Maltese courts an immigration hold pending deportation should be put on him until he gets deported. A common practice in the U.S.A.

John Smith

Mar 5th 2010, 16:08

Mr. C. Zarb,

I think the bigger picture is more important than the detail. If Fr. Mark got the dates wrong, this is less important than ensuring we remain Christian in what we believe and crucially, in how we live.

Edwin Charles Delia

Mar 5th 2010, 14:04

Dear Fr Montebello let the Police Force do thier job they have enough on thier late and you can take care of your church duties am sure our Corp is well trained and know don't need
your comments to keep law and order - We are totally behind our Police Officers all the way

D.Galea

Mar 5th 2010, 13:50

@C.ZARB

Agreed, scrutiny is indeed needed in everything and from every angle not to loose objectivity, the question remains if there is enough.

Yet any person (priest or not) should allowed to 'blow his whistle' if not that would to a much more dangerous situation of imposed 'Omerta'.

The mistake, which is often made though on the other hand is that many are to too quick to pick on an allegation without waiting to see if such person is either crying wolf or has a valid reason to do so & one can understand that this cannot be easy as proof is not always as tangible to come by, although yes such matters of proof should rest primarily on the alleging party. Somehow I feel we do have the tendency of not respecting this and do the opposite.

N.Calleja

Mar 5th 2010, 12:50

One thing is certain: The police are being very prudent with Fr.Montebello. That's all!

JCMicallef

Mar 5th 2010, 12:49

All those laymen and clerics who believe they've received god's enlightenment and given right to preach us on how we should live should follow jesus's words and go and preach....in places like Nigeria, Zimbabwe, China, Middle East...

And leave us to take care of our country which we fought so hard to build. We have enough problems with our own nationals (thanks to many liberal views) and can do without...what shall I call it?....foreign interference...!

C.ZARB

Mar 5th 2010, 11:41

I think scrutiny is needed in everything Mr Galea. I doubt that a priest should be allowed to throw 'a tirade of serious allegations' to our authorities without having any proof.

MSciberras

Mar 5th 2010, 11:41

A person who assaults a policeman, lightly injuring him, is going to be arrested and detained prior to being arraigned in court. The first court hearing at which bail is requested is within days or less; when the person is foreign or has no fixed address, or is in some other particular circumstances, a bail request takes longer to be processed because of the greater risk of the person absconding from the island or breaking the bail conditions. On another note, may I point out that many of the illegal immigrants on the island are desperate. They have no future, cannot even be given a future without retraining on a huge scale (most qualify as unskilled labour) and in the case of the Somalis and to a lesser extent the Eritreans returning home is itself not an easy option even on purely logistical grounds, let alone any other. So let us not imply, hint, hint, nudge, nudge, that the police are using two weights and two measures here. There is alot of frustration out there, amongst both the police and these desperate people. Get off the moral high ground if you dont know the hard facts.

D.Galea

Mar 5th 2010, 11:09

Whether or not Fr.Montebello was right or not on this particular case, it does invite one thing which I think is necessary in our system, Scrunity. With lack of scrunity even the most well intentioned of system faces the risk of being abused & spiral out of control, it always invites the question of 'Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?' (Who watches the watchmen?)

JOE VELLA

Mar 5th 2010, 11:02

LET THE POLICE DO THEIR JOB
May the Good Lord Bless them.

C.ZARB

Mar 5th 2010, 10:45

@John Smith

Did the Church fathers accused the authority without having founded proof (and I am being politically correct here)? I mean that is what the police is accusing Fr Montebello on doing.

MSciberras

Mar 5th 2010, 10:40

@Julia Simpson

It is NOT TRUE that a local would have been treated differently............Let's all jump to conclusions.......! The man is still in detention because (a) he did not request bail when first arraigned (b) when arraigned for the second sitting eleven days later, he did request bail and this request will be considered tomorrow.............so justice takes a long time in Malta............everybody suffers that, not just an African..........assaulting a police officer is a serious offence and you don't get let off with a pat on the shoulder........and it was the courts which kept him in detention.....not the police who arraigned him..........in the US such an offence is often refused bail and you send months in detention..........

John Smith

Mar 5th 2010, 10:12

Julia, what would be helpful to all at this stage is a proper assessment of the physical and psychological conditions under which Mr. Iseki is currently being held.

Julia simpson

Mar 5th 2010, 09:52

I still can not believe that this poor fella is still in detension for almost a month for "slightly injuring a police man" come on we ve seen worse cases involving locals with the police and yet they re granted bail on same day.....why is this case so different???????????????.....could it be,because he's got a different skin color?.......Fr Montebello well done for your great work to humanity....

Brian Farrugia

Mar 5th 2010, 09:42

Fr Montebello does not seem to have anything better to do than to court controversial issues, or are they just issues he likes to make controversial?

John Smith

Mar 5th 2010, 09:27

And if I might also add, a man can live (sometimes very well), without Caesar; but without God there is no life.

Fr. Mark forces us to question the rightful place of things, the divine order, more than anything else.

A prophet is not without honour, except in his own country.

John Smith

Mar 5th 2010, 09:00

Martin, by all means give to Caesar what belongs to him, but do not stand in the way of he who serves God.

T Pace

Mar 5th 2010, 08:52

Provided that Fr Montebello did not swallow a whole can of worms when he started making his statements regarding the arrest, detention and subsequent arraignment of the Nigerian in question, would it be too much to expect from him a statement as to whether the Nigerian intends to go back home in disgust once proceedings are concluded?

Eddie Attard

Mar 5th 2010, 07:04

"Mhux fl-interess tal-pajjiż tiddemoralizza l-korp tal-pulizija" - Il-Professur Guże' Aquilina - 1979

Jason Attard

Mar 5th 2010, 06:43

The police, ore better said, some policemen, also need to understand that in a democratic country the police is not above the law and the abuse of authority is also a crime. Abuse of authority against an immigrant is also racism.

Matin Cassar

Mar 5th 2010, 03:18

Absolute democracy and absolute freedom of expression never existed anywhere in the world at any given point of time. All democracies have Laws for self-protection and to protect the society. If anybody think otherwise then dwelling in illusion I am afraid!

Having said that I respectfully ask freedom of expression’s apologists can anyone please mention just ONE SINGLE COUNTRY where absolute democracy and freedom of expression exists-let it be France, Canada, Iran, Libya, China….etc?
This is a debatable and a challenging question.

e.muscat

Mar 4th 2010, 23:23

Patri Mark, Fr. Colin, Fr Joe Borg u hafna fathers aspiranti bhalhom should desist from putting the reverend docile and compassionate archbishop in an awkward situation. I imagine his patience and tolerance have limits too. Ix xoghol huwa kbir u l haddiema huma ftit, smajna nhar il Hadd. Mons. Archbishop deploy your workers properly and make them stick to their trade. It was their vocation after all. Jien nahseb hsara qed jaghmlu. Marie Benoir wxplained it all.
Why are the police using the "handle with care" attitude. I THOUGHT EVERYBODY WAS EQUAL.

G.Micallef

Mar 4th 2010, 23:22

Ghaziz Patri Mark,

Kun Sacerdot qaddis u mhux ribell. Nifhem li inti tipprova taqbex ghall-batut, imma ghalkemm Alla huwa hanin, Alla huwa wkoll gust! ghalhekk il-gustizzja hija bzonnjuza ukoll.

Antoine Vella

Mar 4th 2010, 23:07

Mr Iseki is accused of "slightly injuring a police officer" and he has already spent almost a month in jail. Is this fair?

John Smith

Mar 4th 2010, 22:57

Thy shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind and strength, and thou shall love thy neighour as thyself. In the light of God's commandment to love all without fear or favour, it is difficult to expect a man of conscience to refrain from speaking out against social injustices. Where would we be today, if the Church Fathers did not follow the commandments?