Updated | Occupy Justice insists removed billboards were licensed and legal

Roughly 100 people attended a demonstration by Occupy Justice at Castille Square where they said the billboards calling for justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination had all the necessary permits • Occupy Justice statement entirely false - PA

Last updated on 18 February 2018, 3:30pm
by Staff Reporter

2 min read

Occupy Justice has inisisted that the billboards taken down by authorities were legal and that the action amounted to a contempt of their right to protest

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Occupy Justice has insisted that billboards calling for justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia were legal and licensed, with all the necessary permits having been obtained beforehand. The billboards were taken down by authorities on Friday night, as a vigil in honour of the murdered journalist was being held in Valletta.

“Occupy Justice has not broken any laws by renting billboard space off a private company, all contracts and invoices were signed,” said a spokesperson for the group.

“The billboards that were removed with contempt for our right to protest, our right to question the government’s disregard to rule of law, our right to express ourselves freely, only serve to cement our resolve to persevere even more.”

Photo: Karl Azzopardi

Quoting former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Occupy Justice said that they will not stop fighting for the truth: “we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall never surrender."

Occupy Justice once again called for the resignation of Tourism minister Konrad Mizzi and Chief of Staff Keith Schembri, both of whom were named in the Panama Papers. They accused the Prime Minister of allowing a culture of impunity to flourish, by failing to remove Mizzi and Schembri.

Those attending the protest stood around banners that showed the same message found on the billboards that were taken down.

Several Nationalist MP’s attended the protest, with the likes of Beppe Fenech Adami, Jason Azzopardi and Mario Demarco all present for the event.

Owners served with notice for removal months ago – PA

In a statement issued on Sunday afternoon, the Planning Authority said that, “all billboards removed during a direct action on Friday evening were served with a notice for removal months ago, giving enough time for owners of these illegal structures to remove them”.

It said that others had been served with a notice on Friday, and would be removed should the owners fail to remove them in “adequate time”.

“The Authority’s action, which is still ongoing, is being done in collaboration with Enemalta. In fact a number of billboards were found to be stealing electricity to light up the billboards,” said the PA.

“The statement issued by Occupy Justice today that the billboards that carried their messages were legal and licensed is entirely false.”

The Planning Authority said it wished to reiterate that there were more illegal billboards removed on the night, which had also been served with a notice before the messages placed by Occupy Justice.

The Planning Authority said it would continue “taking action on illegal structures to uphold the existing laws regulating Billboards & Advertisements”.