Man apologises over 'unacceptable' Facebook post targeting Repubblika president

A man charged with posting a hateful comment on Facebook about Repubblika president Robert Aquilina was conditionally discharged and fined after apologising for his “unacceptable behaviour”.

Anthony Brincat was summoned to court on Friday to answer to charges during a hate speech sitting presided over by Magistrate Ian Farrugia.

Those charges stemmed from a Facebook post wherein Brincat wrote (in Maltese) “Robert, you are really mad, careful lest they send you to prison… see you in the grave, we’ll speak at the cemetery”.

The police took action and pressed charges against Brincat who on Thursday apologised, describing that comment as “unacceptable behaviour”.

When the hearing got underway, the accused’s lawyer, José Herrera, minuted a note on behalf of his client saying that “he publicly acknowledged that the words used to address Dr Robert Aquilina on social media in the last weeks were not appropriate in a democratic society”.

So he made a public apology for such “unacceptable behaviour”.

Although the accused did not agree with Aquilina about his civil society work, he “unreservedly acknowledged” that his efforts were motivated exclusively by his genuine wish to ensure that...