The removal of the vilification of religion as a criminal offence in no way contributed to the desecration of copies of the Quran at Mater Dei Hospital, according to one of the lawyers who drafted the amendments.
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said yesterday the repeal of religious vilification had made it harder to prosecute acts such as those at Mater Dei, where slices of pork were placed between the pages of several copies of the Quran in a multi-faith prayer room last week.
However, lawyer Andrew Sciberras told the Times of Malta that what had happened at Mater Dei would not have constituted vilification but hate crime, which remained a serious criminal offence.
These acts are not what we stand for
“The vilification article was not the only protection afforded to religion. The law against incitement of religious hatred, which was introduced relatively recently, was intended to protect specifically against this sort of act,” he said when asked about Dr Busuttil’s remarks.
“In my view, what happened at Mater Dei was clearly designed to stoke religious hatred, which has always been a crime,” Dr Sciberras added, highlighting the elements of context and intention.
Dr Busuttil said it was “actions like these” that motivated his party’s disagreement with the decision to remove the vilification law. “The perpetrator cannot be prosecuted because these acts have now become legal,” he said.
Writing on Facebook, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici denied that this was the case and criticised Dr Busuttil for politicising the incident.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat described the acts as “senseless” and warned they “should not be taken lightly”.
“These acts are not what we stand for… We should never resort to such disgusting acts” he said. “Only those who are open minded are patriots,” Dr Muscat added.