On Thursday, May 2, my wife, Alaine Apap Bologna came out of the Italian Cultural Institute where she had just delivered a talk on antique Maltese silver. As she stood on the Palace Square at the corner of Archbishop Street waiting for her taxi, she smoked a cigarette. She saw no receptacle where she could discard the stub, and dropped it into a nearby grate.

Two plain-clothes officers approached and fined her €150 – without a word of warning or admonition. The contravention includes dropping a “cigarette butt”… “in any public place”. Surely such a draconian fine should be preceded by some sort of warning. 

Clearly this contravention is not being applied generally. We believe my wife has been unjustly treated and wish to see matters put right. I am writing this letter to alert your readers to this sort of abuse of power.

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