Calling someone a clown should be allowed in a democratic country, an appeal judge said yesterday as he acquitted a 16-year-old activist of insulting circus agent Silvio Zammit during a protest.

The activist, from Moviment Graffiti, had said the words “Silvio Pulicinell”, were also carried on placards during a protest against the circus in Floriana in 2010.

The teenager had originally been found guilty and conditionally discharged for six months.

Mr Justice Lawrence Quintano yesterday acquitted her after taking into consideration that comments far worse than calling someone a clown had been accepted by the court.

Calling someone a clown should be allowed in a democratic country that respected freedom of expression, he said.