Thoughts and happenings from a life on Malta

This is getting to me now. Another madman in charge of  a car, drives dangerously and at speed on the wrong side of the road, kills one, seriously injures two others. Punishment? Licence suspended for only 1 year and a 2-year jail term but suspended for 2 years (http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110406/local/suspended-sentence-for-speeding-driver-who-killed-man-and-injured-woman-and-child)

The punishment is actually no punishment at all. The message it sends out to all arrogant drunks and speedsters is that the law is on their side, not the victim’s.

The courts are becoming accessories to the carnage on our roads.

Underage youths get their drinks in Paceville is the title of an investigative piece which appears in today’s (12 December 2010) edition of the Sunday Times.

While not exactly earth-shattering in its revelations, it does confirm yet again that

1. people under the age of 17 are being allowed into places of entertainment which are restricted to patrons aged 17+
2. people under the age of 17 are being served alcoholic drinks
3. smoking in these indoor public places is the norm

To their credit, the reporters covering the assignment tried to lodge a report at the St Julian’s police station but the officer on duty turned them away.

So here I must ask, why is the Sunday Times refusing to publish the names of the night spots which were violating the law, especially as minors were involved and no action was taken by the police?

Is the national newspaper morally correct in withholding the names of law-breakers while having no compunction in pointing out the inertia of the police force in dealing with the matter?

I posed the question to the Sunday Times, via the comments section of the article’s web page. However, neither my remark nor an answer to it had appeared by the time I wrote this post.

The police have filed criminal charges against Alex Vella Gera for writing a story about a fictional character with a sexist attitude, called Li Tkisser Sewwi, which was published in the 8th issue of Ir-Realta’.