Three activists from the NGO rescue ship Sea Watch on Thursday were ordered to pay €6,000 in damages to Transport Malta after having been caught red-handed spray-painting slogans on the Kappara bridge.
Daniel Tamino Bohm, 27, a student, Jelka Elena Kretzschmar, 35, a German graphic designer, and Marco Muller, a 26-year-old design engineer from Switzerland were accused of damaging public property.
They were arrested after police had been alerted that persons were spray painting graffiti on the concrete pillars of the bridge, with slogans stating 'Open the Ports' and 'Free the Ships'.
All three pleaded guilty, with Mr Muller clarifying that he had been an accomplice.
The Sea Watch vessel was blocked in harbour for most of the summer, with the authorities arguing it did not have proper documentation. It was later allowed to leave. Another NGO rescue ship, the Lifeline, was similarly blocked. Similar actions were taken in other countries.
Magistrate Josette Demicoli warned the accused that they could have faced a maximum four-year jail term which could be increased to five years since the property in question was public.
Defence lawyer Malcolm Mifsud told the court that the accused were willing to fork out €6,445 in damages to Transport Malta once their bank cards were returned by the police.
The lawyer further pointed out that his clients had filed an early guilty plea, had cooperated fully and had also apologised for their wrongdoing, besides offering to pay damages.
“They are Sea Watch activists,” explained the lawyer. “The court is aware of the controversy on the immigration issue. They wanted to press a point but did not do so in the correct format. They are not even contesting the amount by saying its inflated. It’s a sacrifice for them,” he said.
“I don’t want this to be used later in an arm-twisting exercise between the authorities and Sea Watch,” Dr Mifsud said when arguing that the case did not merit a suspended sentence.
In the light of all this, the court, declared all three guilty upon their own admission and conditionally discharged them for three years, ordering them to settle their dues with the transport authority within 3 days.
Lawyers Malcolm Mifsud and Gianluca Cappitta were defence counsel.