Il-gazzetti tal-Ħadd kienu miżgħudin bi kritika għall-fatt li l-Pastor Gordon John Manche talab lill-Pulizija biex tieħu azzjoni kriminali kontra tliet artisti wara li ħass li kummenti tagħhom kienu qed jiżżuffjettaw bih.
It-tliet persuni li Manche jrid jieħu azzjoni kontrihom huma s-satiriku Matt Bonanno, l-attur komiku Daniel Xuereb u d-Direttur Artistiku ta’ Teatru Malta Sean Buhagiar.
Gazzetti bħall-MaltaToday, il-KullĦadd u anke t-Times of Malta kollha ippubblikaw karikaturi relatati ma’ dawn il-każ, bil-Pastor tar-River of Love ikun il-protagonist ewlieni fihom.
Il-MaltaToday analizzat is-sitwazzjoni u nnotat kif il-Pulizija jkunu qed jagħmlu xogħlhom meta jinvestigaw ilmenti kriminali minn xi persuna, kif ġara f’dan il-każ.
Mistoqsija dwar dan, fuq l-istess gazzetta, l-Avukat Veronique Dalli qalet kif il-liġi Maltija tiddefinixxi tipi differenti ta’ theddid, u meta l-persuna titressaq il-qorti akkużata b’dan, il-prosekuzzjoni, bħal f’kull każ ieħor, trid tissostanzja l-akkużi bi provi konkreti.
Hija kompliet tgħid kif f’dan il-każ l-intenzjoni tal-artisti tidher li mhix waħda kriminali.
Spikkat ukoll id-dikjarazzjoni li għamel il-kittieb Alex Vella Gera, li qal kif Pastor Manche, mhux qed ikun miftuħ għall-kritika.
“Manche huwa persuna pubblika. Hu jista’ jagħmel stqarrijiet foloz, imma Allaħares tgħid xi ħaġa dwaru,” żied jgħid Vella Gera.
“He is a public person. It’s fine for him to make false and sweeping statements, but God forbid you say something about him; he’s ridiculous.”
Il-kittieb innota wkoll l-istqarrijiet tal-Ministri Byron Camilleri u Owen Bonnici li esploraw it-tibdil li jista’ jsir fil-liġi Maltija biex tipproteġi aktar lill-artisti fejn jidħlu attakki simili, kif seħħ proprju fl-ewwel seduta din il-ġimgħa.
Fil-fatt, fil-Parlament, it-Tnejn filgħaxija, tressaq għall-ewwel qari abbozz ta’ liġi msejjaħ “Att biex tkompli tissaħħaħ il-libertà tal-espressjoni artistika”.
L-artikolista Josianne Cassar ukoll iddedikat parti mill-kitba tagħha fl-istess gazzetta dwar il-kwistjoni.
“Fl-opinjoni tiegħi, nies bħal Manche, huma magħluqin f’dinja għalihom u jonqsu milli jirrealizzaw li b’dak li jagħmlu jkunu qed jidhru redikoli fid-dinja ta’ barra,” kitbet Cassar.
‘The way I see it, the problem with people like Manché (let me hasten to add, in my opinion – just so that he doesn’t sue me) is that they are so wrapped up in their own little world, and have so little self-awareness, that they fail to realise just how ridiculous they seem to the outside world.‘
Hi żiedet tgħid kif jekk hemm xi ħadd qed jagħti l-pariri lil Manche għandhom jgħidulu biex jieqaf jagħmel dawn l-affarijiet, għax aktar mhux se jaħli l-ħin tal-Pulizija u l-Qorti, in-nies aktar se jiddieħku bih.
“If he has anyone advising him, they should really tell him to put a stop to all this nonsense because the more he tries to waste the court’s time with these frivolous police reports, the more people will make fun of him.”
Cassar ukoll innotat l-impenn tal-Gvern biex tissolva din is-sitwazzjoni.
L-editorjal tal-MaltaToday tal-Ħadd iffoka kompletament fuq Manche u nnota speċifikament li dak li qed jagħmel hu biex iżomm ħalq l-artisti magħluq.
“Manche huwa persuna pubblika, u bħal mal-midja u n-nies jitkellmu fuq l-Arċisqof u l-Imam, hu għandu jittollera l-istess skrutinju,” żied jgħid l-editorjal.
“It is not just politicians who must display a greater degree of tolerance. Manchè is the leader of River of Love and is sufficiently well known to qualify as a public figure. He has appeared on TV shows produced by his own church and has also been involved in public controversy. His sermons are filmed and broadcast on YouTube. He is not a nobody and as such must expect a greater degree of scrutiny on his actions just as the leader of the Catholic church, Archbishop Charles Scicluna, and the leader of the Muslim community, the Imam, should expect.”
Anke l-editorjal tal-KullĦadd tkellem dwar il-kwistjoni u tenna kif, “wara li kien Gvern Laburista stess li difen il-mentalità antikwata taċ-ċensura, kien aktar minn naturali li jintervjeni mill-ġdid u jipproteġi dak li llum forsi konna diġà ħadnieh for granted.”
