Two activists from the pressure group Moviment Graffiti were yesterday charged with insulting Sliema local council candidate Silvio Zammit over the fact that he brings circuses to Malta.

Mr Zammit told the court they had called him a clown, using the phrase “Silvio Pulicinell”, which was also carried on placards during a protest in 2010 near the granaries in Floriana.

He recognised the two girls, who were 16 years old at the time, as the ones who uttered the phrase.

As Mr Zammit was testifying, Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona remarked: “I have been living in this circus (the courts) for a long time,” much to the amusement of the public and lawyers present.

Mr Zammit said he brings the circus to Malta for the good of the country.

Lawyer Joe Brincat, appearing for the two activists, said even spectators at a football match called the referee names but no police reports were ever filed against them.

Mr Zammit’s lawyer, Melvyn Mifsud, argued that the comments were intended to insult his client.

Magistrate Micallef Trigona deferred the case for judgement.