Front Against Censorship finalist for European youth prize

The Front Against Censorship is among the finalists for this year’s European Charlemagne Youth Prize, the Malta office of the European Parliament said.

The EP said that a winner from each of the 27 member states of the European Union has been chosen after a call by the Parliament and the Foundation of the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen for youths to submit projects on EU development, integration and issues linked to European identity.

The Front, a voluntary organisation which includes young Maltese writers and artists, is lobbying for the revision of censorship legislation in Malta. It claims that national laws currently give institutions the authority to judge what is morally suitable for the Maltese public and act upon that decision by censoring the diffusion of these works.

It has been making its cause through a series of activities including protests, as well as through new media such as Facebook. The front claims that existing legal mechanisms hinder creative expression and act against European values of freedom of speech, freedom of movement and of works of art.

It is difficult, it claims, to freely exchange or share challenging creative ideas within a European environment if current national legislation allows certain infringements.

The application was received by the Office of the European Parliament in Valletta and was chosen by a jury made up of MEPs and a youth organisations' representative. It was deemed admissible according to the rules of the competition.

A European selection committee made up of European Parliament president Jerzy Buzek and another three MEPs, along with four representatives from the Aachen-based Foundation for the International Charlemagne Prize, will choose the first three projects from among the 27 nominees at the beginning of April.

A representative of the Front will participate in the award-giving ceremony in Aachen, Germany, on May 11, when the three winning projects will be announced by the EP President and a representative of the Charlemagne Prize Foundation.