Realta' editor's acquittal - 'Writers are now freer than ever'

David Vella

Feb 9th, 23:49

More venom injected into our society thanks to two amateurs and the pateticness of the heqqhimm professionals (those responsible for defending our society).

Joe Xuereb

Feb 9th, 14:45

@Alfred Grech. Let them be decent, you say.
Listen Alfred, when a man and a woman get down to make a baby, do you think the practical side is done with their hands wrapped up in tissue paper? And do you think that any verbal exchanges are wrapped up in sweet nothings with not a four-letter word to be heard. Of course there are holier-than-thous people who do behave like this to please the Church/so as not to wake up the other nine kids/so as not to frighten the neighbours(or make them jealous/or make the neighbours report them for indecent exposure. You know what Mr. Grech, it is a minor miracle if these decent people ever manage to raise enough oomph! to make a child. Alfred, do not be upset, please! We are only talking of God's way of increasing his population. As we say, the more the merrier.

To the rest. This is a first step towards Malta emerging out of cultural doldrums. Be grateful! I know some of you won't be. But we live in a democracy where reason wins hands down. Because there is no other choice. God gave us a brain. Let us use it. And it is a futile exercise to make a herring taste like strawberries and cream just because a herring tastes terrible. If it's God made, it HAS to be good surely. And any raunchiness is more than likely a minor rebellion, a reaction, against the Catholic guilt around things corporal, piled high to shame us. That is all it is. God created the procreation process, perfect by definition mechanically speaking because it delivers. Popular culture, with the Church behind it (it gets in everywhere) does everything in its power to sanitize it. Given that the Church is God is the Church, there is a contradiction there somewhere. Advise me if you must, but please, don't tell me that a herring should/must taste of strawberries. Because sex, and childbirth, is dirty. Not a pretty sight. But necessary. Period.

Mr Stephen Camilleri

Feb 9th, 08:24

The courts, police, university rector…, all humiliated by two young students when all they wanted to was to express their beliefs without restrictions. What an embarrassment!!!

Josef Borg

Feb 9th, 06:46

Hello Malta. Welcome to year 2012 A.D.

Alfred Grech

Feb 9th, 00:02

Let all writers have freedom but let all also exercise a sense of decency.

Joe Xuereb

Feb 8th, 18:32

What does it take to understand that raunchy words used in context are very normal (and a reference to the Bible and its contents is not inappropriate). Li Tkisser Sewwi is a work of fiction and had the author used euphemisms in order to respect the sensitivities of many in Malta, the result would have been a lost moral message, one reduced to a farce to boot.

A printed warning of the contents on the front cover would be a red rag to a bull. The shares in this piece of breakthrough Maltese literature would soar. So, no warning necessary. People either read or they don't. There is no law that says one has to pick up the book and read, never mind act on what there is therein), or indeed to choose to ignore it. If some skrupluz happens to come across such a work, s/he can start reading and discard it as rubbish at the first sight of a four-letter word. They can always award themselves a favour and reason that works of literature have to be taken in context whatever the storyline. Or they can continue to maintain this is filth. We've always got a choice.

Purity of whatever for its own sake is fine taken at face value. The problem is - what happens when the pure comes up against life's nasty but perfectly normal surprises. Oh well! there is always the cotton-wool we can wrap ourselves in. And remain forever babes in swaddling cotton- wool.

I will not bother to list the great works of literature from Classical times to this day that were instructive, real and at times, amusing. It would be churlish to condemn the writers whose names have survived time itself. Vella Gera's name will go down in the history of Maltese literature. And the Rector's too but only in a footnote.


@Joseph Aquilina(15:39). Joe, if you stood in front of a policeman and swore you would be carted off to Mount Carmel. Because your swearing would lack the necessary picturesque spontaneity, being instead contrived and merely conjured up to shock and therefore false. Take a hundred lines, 'I must see things in context'. And I don't mean swearing because someone jumped the queue at the bus-stop. That is best resolved with some rage management training, so in short supply in Malta. Where reason never had a look-in.

Giov DeMartino

Feb 8th, 17:58

Il-huta minn rasha tinten!

Mario Farrugia

Feb 8th, 17:57

Much ado about nothing!

Colin Stanley

Feb 8th, 16:07

I think every one should have a copy of this book by his bedside just in case, for reference. and another thing in a few years time it will be a collecter's item, and be very valuable.

m. borg (slm)

Feb 8th, 16:02

Justice has been served, Malta has entered into the 21st Century at last.

Andy Farrugia

Feb 8th, 15:49

Folks, this case should NEVER have ended up in a court of law. Unfortunately, many people have not yet realised the power of ridicule, sarcasm, mockery and derision in dealing with such cases. For instance, look at the photo that accompanies this thread; take a good look at these characters, their body language, their aura of self-importance. On the left we have a post-modern reincarnation of Trotsky - suitably attired with jacket and tie, while on the right we have the verbo-kinesic presence of a literary genius. Monumental!

P. Vincenti

Feb 8th, 15:29

I believe that the rubbish that was written was not worth the effort and the publicity it was given.

I have read parts of the paper in question. I find it very poor in imagination and rich in sexual fantasies that allude to an immature look at life and relation ships.

The sort of cheap publication one can buy off newsstands in London. I expect that this person will look back at what he has written when he mature somewhat and blush.

Rocco Camilleri

Feb 8th, 15:27

Hoping now that authors does not exceed the limits. Something clear has to be inscripted in our laws to define exactly what is obscene and what is not to strenghten the future society and not make it less affair.

Joe Xuereb

Feb 8th, 15:21

@M.Borg. Emotive choice of word, minors. By which I think you mean young people who are minors but old enough to be reading something or other at the University. People are sexual being well before their fourteenth year and these minors you are talking about a somewhat older than that. Surely as such, they would be capable of understanding the machinations of human sexuality. Learning in context. It is not like they are forced to DO anything. It is education that does the trick Borg, not keep it clean at all costs and you will live a wonderful life. As my mother used to say to us kids, il-hazin tajjeb tkun tafu. Hazin meta toprah. And believe me, there is nothing wrong in Li tkisser sewwi(if ever there was a moral in a title, this has to be it. But then I awarded myself the sacrosanct luxury to mature and I am soaring still). Not if one is just sweet sixteen and going on mature. Because context is everything. Unfortunately it is not an automatic given. And you, M. Borg, would not have it any other way and, in so doing, hold as back? The Court has ruled. Get over it!

Ronald Cauchi

Feb 8th, 15:16

The Rector of the University should have used his common sense and rather than picking on an archaic law just to please a few fundamentalist bigots, he should have let the matter die a natural death. Instead he and the Attorney General decied to make a dog's dinner out of it. Now both of them have egg on their faces.Whether He/They resign or not is irrelevant. it will not make either of them look any better in our eyes.

Mr Andrew Camilleri

Feb 8th, 15:07

You may notice that they did not thank the NP - which at that time, before the divorce referendum gaffe, kept quiet because it's conservative wing probably approved the action taken by the police against these two gentlemen. Now that they have realised that they are out of touch with reality, the NP has suddently decided to act all liberal and wants to revise the obscenity laws. How is that for convenience?

Alfred Bugeja

Feb 8th, 15:06

The only resignations that are called for in this case are those of Magistrate Audrey Demicoli and Mr. Justice David Scicluna for completely missing the wood for the tree in these judgements.

The latter had even gone as far as saying that Junior College students (who can be as young as 15) are mature enough to read such material. One wonders why we don't give the vote to 15-year-olds while we're at it.

The whole point of the argument was that this material was made available to barely-pubescent children in a public school. That cannot be denied no matter how the defending lawyers try to slice it.

J. Tanti

Feb 8th, 14:49

I cannot understand all these comments from people stating that the University rector should resign over the incident.

The acquittal was based on the premise that a clear definition of obscenity does not exist in law. The editor and writer deemed the piece not obscene; others begged to differ (such as the ones who complained about it to the rector, thus soliciting his intervention); that’s where the courts come into play. If this whole story should teach us something, it is to keep definitions of legal terms (and the laws themselves, for that matter) current.

P. S. Was a short descriptor of the subject matter included ahead of the piece, advising reader caution? It is common to find such warnings ahead of non-mainstream stories. They help people form their own judgement ahead of reading something they may not necessarily expect to find in a particular paper.

Jay Oatmon

Feb 8th, 14:48

Why is the AG office wasting time on this victimless 'crime' when the courts are letting career criminals free on suspended sentences - wake up Malta!

Alison Bezzina

Feb 8th, 14:34

It's been a good month for writers and journalists.....

HERE'S ANOTHER VICTORY WORTH TALKING ABOUT

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120204/blogs/a-victory-worth-talking-about.405266

Adrian Gouder

Feb 8th, 14:15

What a shame! The problem is not within the text itself, but the medium used and its intended and possible audience. Are we to expect that anyone can write like that on any media, there were it can be read by those too young to be critical? The point is he should not be found guilty of publishing the text, but of publishing it in a magazine reachable by children, and which is normally clean of this sort of 'whatever'. After this, well, I hope the editor gets fired - or is this not in the University's jurisdiction either?

Chris Mifsud

Feb 8th, 14:00

Its amazing that even in the year 2012 there are still some people such as some commenting here that believe that if something offends them (i can't see why if they are not mentioned in whatever is supposed to be offending them) or they find something to be immoral or against their religious beliefs then it should be banned.

I couldn't care less about religion, but even if i did, if reading or looking at something bothers me then i won't read or look at it. Very simple really. That goes for films, plays, books, stories, porn and anything else.

pat muscat

Feb 8th, 13:34

Dahlet xi ziffa mit-tieqa tal-gemb ghax xi hadd nesa jghalaqa! Veru l-PN huwa'the liberal party', bhal ma thobb tippriedka blogger 'sappi tutto' u l-akkolti taghha!

M Borg

Feb 8th, 13:34

@ M Grima
@ Kieth Muscat

Before sending people to North Korea or any othet place , maybe you should read what the " First Amendment " in America says about this situation. :----

May a public school official legally censor a school-sponsored publication, like a newspaper or yearbook?

It depends. If the school has by policy or practice turned the school-sponsored publication into a public forum, or a place traditionally open to the free exchange of ideas, then the school has less authority to censor content.

However, most school newspapers are not public forums, and because of a 1988 Supreme Court decision, school officials generally have broad leeway to censor school-sponsored publications.

In Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, the high court ruled that school officials can censor school-sponsored publications if their decision is “reasonably related to a legitimate pedagogical purpose.” This means school officials must show that they have a reasonable educational reason for censoring the material.

The high court gave several examples of material that could be censored based on a reasonable educational purpose, including material that is “ungrammatical, poorly written, inadequately researched, biased or prejudiced, vulgar or profane, or unsuitable for immature audiences.”

The newspaper Realta was in the hands of minors so the last part of the above " unsuitable for immature audience " applies.

Unless you are now going to say that America is in the Middle Ages you must now realise that the Rector had every right to act the way he did. As always in Malta we always go one better and write the rules.

Alfred Dimech

Feb 8th, 13:01

I could never understand this case. Mr. Camilleri was charged with publishing obscenities in Realta'. Surely this isn't the issue here. The issue is that the paper was put within the grasp of minors (and the university campus is in accessible to minors).

So by extrapolation are advertising companies allowed to use obscene material in their adverts? Are TV ratings also pointless then?

George Calleja

Feb 8th, 12:48

Prosit lil Qorti li qed thalli dawk il-kitbiet oxxeni ghaddejjin lixxa. Veru llum kollox huwa permess li jghaddi qisu xejn mhu xejn. Imbaghad niskantaw bl-incidenti tal-Hamrun u x-xufier ta l-Arriva. Kif dejjem insostni Malta marret il-bahar bl-iskuza ta liberta ta l-espressjoni. Gharukasa!!! Min fuq issa nghajtu li r-Rettur ghandu jirrezenja!! Prosit tassew!!

M Grima

Feb 8th, 12:34

Could the Attorney General give us a detailed account of how much this absurd case and the respective appeal cost the tax payer? Even if it cost one Euro the AG should consider handing in his resignation for wasting our resources in such a manner. The rector, Juanito Camilleri should follow suit for blowing this matter and for convinving the police (are'nt they supposed to chase real criminals?) and the AG that these two students shopuld be punished for their cultural actions. But, I guess in the land of Mickey Mouse nothing of the sort will happen?

Emanuel Farrugia

Feb 8th, 12:29

Now I am beginning to understand what the Hon. Dr. Franco Debono meant when he said that the PN Government is an Oligarchy. So there was some meaning in his allegations after all. So that's why some people support the PN, NOT through conviction but for convenience.

Valerie Calleja

Feb 8th, 12:28

The entire episode offended me and my family.Since we live and pay taxes here,we have as much right as any one else to an opinion.Obscenity and filth offendes me and my family.

Joe Xuereb

Feb 8th, 12:24

I congratulate Alex Vella Gera and Mr. Camilleri for bringing Maltese society forward by more than just a notch. Thank you. To anyone still in doubt I say - there is nothing wrong in raunchy language in literature as long as it is read in context. If I want a 'clean' read I have a choice of so many and most importantly, Cinderella. Where the Prince and Miss now Mrs. Cinders lived happily ever after. And had plenty of kids no doubt and for that they had to get down and dirty. I mean, virgin births are all very well but repeated amongst commoners, the phenomenon loses is impact. The Church is currently apologising in profusion over child-abuse. And maybe the Rector could take the cue and do likewise. And I for one will forgive him. I am not a hard taskmaster, not I!

Ramon Casha

Feb 8th, 12:08

Congratulations to Mark and Alex, well done to their legal team and the magistrates in question.

I wonder how much money has been wasted on this witch-hunt - both by the taxpayer and the two victims.

I believe that the Attorney General should tender his resignation, but more importantly, I call on our lawmakers to revise existing and planned legislation which gives the AG excessive power, such as discretion in deciding whether to charge people and under which court, etc.

Francis Farrugia

Feb 8th, 12:02

U HALLUNA. MA TARAWX LI HADD MHU SER JIRRIZNJA. GHALINA IL-MALTIN DIN IL-KELMA ``RIZENJA`` LA FIHA SUGU, LA TIFSIRA U LANQAS TEZISTI FIL-LINGWA MALTIJA. DIN IL-KELMA HADD MA JAF BIHA U HADD QATT MA SEMAHHA. HA..HA..HA.........

Mr Albert Dimech

Feb 8th, 11:59

Well done to these courageous lads. Yes, the rector is in hot water and should have never taken such a vile step. Universities in democratic and modern countries do not act in this unbelievable manner. The rector has been recently confirmed in his post, well should we expect the minister's resignation now? In coco land perhaps.

Emanuel Farrugia

Feb 8th, 11:57

" After being acquitted Mr. Camilleri had said the rector should consider his position ". You mean resign. Are you kidding ! Under this Government, nobody has to resign especially if he was handpicked for his job.

Charles W. Sammut

Feb 8th, 11:50

What an utter waste of public money. Not to mention the harassment that these two gentlemen were subjected to.

Now, whoever instigated this charade in the first place, should either pay the expenses incurred or resign.