Police investigations into cases raised by Labour MP Adrian Vassallo in June about the broadcasting of porn films in hotels and on cable television are still ongoing, Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici said in parliament.
"The issue involves the gathering of evidence to establish the facts on the basis of various laws which may be potentially applied, including the Criminal Code, the European Convention Act, the Broadcasting Act, and related regulations," Dr Mifsud Bonnici said.
In his parliamentary question, Dr Vassallo said that even though he had revealed the broadcasting of porn on cable television and in hotels, such abuses were continuing. He therefore asked what had been established in police investigations.
"Has anything been done so that the people will not be led to suspect that the authorities are covering up, rather than stopping, this abuse?"
"If nothing has been done, can the minister explain what government policy is with regard to the broadcasting of porn in hotels, on cable TV and, in future, through rental shops?"
Dr Vassallo also asked why current law, which had been applied to a book and a magazine, had not been applied to the cable TV provider and the hotels.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici said police investigations were following their normal course.
"This is not a simple issue, as the honourable Member is making it out to be. There is no reason for anybody in the know about such matters to think that the authorities are covering up abuse. The issue involves the gathering of evidence to establish the facts on the basis of various laws which may be potentially applied, including the Criminal Code, the European Convention Act, the Broadcasting Act, and related regulations," Dr Mifsud Bonnici said.
The minister said that government policy was against the distribution of pornographic material, but there was a complex legal issue on the definition of porn and the balance which had to be struck between restricting porn and respecting freedom of expression.
He said that the issues involving the book and the magazine were legally not related to the type of broadcasting mentioned by Dr Vassallo.