VALLETTA: Malta’s constitutional court ruled on Thursday that former justice minister Owen Bonnici had violated freedom of expression when he repeatedly ordered government workers to clean away a makeshift memorial to murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The Court ordered the government to pay Delia 1,000 euros ($1,110) in compensation and to return the “stolen” material. “Owen Bonnici did this when he was minister for justice whose first duty is to safeguard everyone’s fundamental human right. “Bonnici’s position as a government minister is entirely untenable.”Malta’s new prime minister, Robert Abela, said last week he had ordered that the memorial be now left untouched. The previous prime minister, Jospeh Muscat, stood down after acknowledging that mistakes had been made during the investigation into Caruana Galizia’s killing.

Source: Pakistan Today January 30, 2020 14:35 UTC