Columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia recounted yesterday how she was forced to seek refuge in a convent to escape a baying crowd after she was harassed by the mayor of Żurrieq.
“This is not how a civilised country works,” Ms Caruana Galizia said, adding that it would never cross her mind to verbally attack Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in a street or Jason Micallef, the head of the Labour’s television station.
Ignatius Farrugia, the mayor, is accused, together with Maria Vassallo and her daughter Kimberly, of harassing Ms Caruana Galizia on March 19 during the feast of St Joseph in Rabat.
This is not how a civilised country works
Ms Caruana Galizia testified that she had to seek help from two priests as the crowd shouted for her to be dragged out of the convent.
She explained she had gone to Rabat to take photos of the feast. She was walking with her husband, Peter, and friends, including Paul Stivala and Gloria Beacom.
At one point she noticed Mr Farrugia following her.
He then moved closer and started chanting Labour’s electoral slogan, Malta For All, and making disparaging remarks.
She said he encouraged others to ridicule her and it was then that the co-defendant turned up and harassed her. Ms Caruana Galizia said she could hardly walk down the road.
At one point, Mr Stivala stopped to speak to a friend, who was with another group, and Ms Caruana Galizia said she decided to wait for him as she thought there would be “safety in numbers”.
She said she turned her back on the defendants but they continued to harass her.
Throughout the incident, Mr Farrugia seemed to be having fun and laughing throughout, she added.
She identified the Vassallos as the ones who run the Labour club in Rabat.
Cross-examined by Marion Camilleri, representing Mr Farrugia, Ms Caruana Galizia was asked whether she had ever written anything about Mr Farrugia.
The columnist said, “God forbid” that she did not write about him, considering that he posted pictures of himself dressed up as a bride on Facebook. He did such ridiculous things, she commented.
Ms Beacom said that as she walked outside the Carmelites convent she saw a short woman with red spiked hair shouting at the top of her voice for Ms Caruana Galizia to be dragged out of the building. Ms Beacom walked over to two priests who were standing in front of the convent’s door and asked one of them whether her friends were seeking shelter inside and they said they were.
Ms Beacom said she went to get the police and spotted a group of officers walking down the road towards them.
She also noticed that Mr Farrugia was laughing.
Police Inspector Sarah Magri said that, in a statement, Mr Farrugia denied having ever insulted Ms Caruana Galizia, saying he merely asked her to take his photo.
The Vassallos, on the other hand, said that they had asked her to stop writing about them on her blog.
The case continues.