PN denies it took ‘extreme’ stand over Realtà story
The Nationalist Party has strongly denied Labour’s view that it ever took an “extremist” stand against the student newspaper Realtà, whose editor was last week acquitted of publishing obscenities. PN said its news programme on Net TV simply “reported,...
The Nationalist Party has strongly denied Labour’s view that it ever took an “extremist” stand against the student newspaper Realtà, whose editor was last week acquitted of publishing obscenities.
PN said its news programme on Net TV simply “reported, factually, the content of the article in question”, without bias.
“Giving the report a biased stance, or refusing to refer to extracts from the article, would have been tantamount to bias and censorship,” a PN spokesman said.
The “article” in question was a piece of explicit first-person narrative written by award-winning author Alex Vella Gera about a depraved character obsessed with sex, who describes various sexual encounters in graphic detail.
After a report by the University rector, the police charged Mr Vella Gera and student editor Mark Camilleri with obscene libel. But they were acquitted by the courts – a judgement that was confirmed when an appeal by the Attorney General was turned down last week.
When the story broke, Labour MP Owen Bonnici held a memorable press conference outside the court room in defence of Mr Camilleri and Mr Vella Gera, where a Net journalist urged Dr Bonnici to read the article aloud and repeatedly asked him if he would allow his child to read it.
The news item then began by saying the Labour Party did not want court action to be taken against an article which “describes and glorifies” the rape of a young woman published in a free newspaper given out to Junior College students, who are still minors.
It spoke of narrative, entitled Mend What You Break (Li Tkisser Sewwi), as being a glorification of sex with girls under the age of 16.
While the court’s acquittal of Mr Vella Gera and Mr Camilleri was welcomed by the Labour Party and Alternattiva Demokratika, the PN said it did not comment on court judgements. In welcoming the judgement, Dr Bonnici said the Prime Minister and his party’s media took an “extremist” position in favour of censorship.
“Lawrence Gonzi should at the very least issue a genuine apology to the artistic community,” he said.