A number of street hawkers yesterday filed a judicial protest claiming breach of their human rights after the Valletta local council informed them they would not be able to mount their stalls during the annual carnival celebrations.

The 11 hawkers, who are licensed and who are not the same as the St James Ditch market hawkers, said they had operated every year from spots allocated to them by the council but this year they were told they could not even apply for them.

They said that just as the St James Ditch hawkers had been provided with an alternative site due to construction works, so should they.

The St James Ditch hawkers, who operate just outside Valletta, were moved to a site in Blata l-Bajda to make way for works on the new bus terminus.

The carnival hawkers said the behaviour of the Valletta local council, the Commissioner of Police, the Attorney General and the Malta Council for Culture and Arts on this matter was in breach of their fundamental human rights and so were holding them responsible for any damages.

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