COVID-sceptics hold Valletta protest to ‘question science behind vaccine’

A group of demonstrators gathered in Valletta to protest against COVID-19 measures, as well as the COVID-19 vaccine but also mobile telephony masts, amongst other issues.

“We are organising a protest as an open debate to discuss human rights, civil liberties and the right of patients in the wake of the management of the COVID crisis. A number of rights have been limited, a number of human rights also,” said lawyer Rudolph Ragonesi, one of the organisers. “The Constitution of Malta says that these rights cannot be limited unless for reasons deemed to be reasonable.  If policies are to be deemed to be reasonable by a Constitutional court they need to be based on science. Unless based on science then you cannot say it is reasonable,” he said.

“You’d sound crazy with a legislator saying you have a right to fresh air,” lawyer Rudolph Ragonesi told the crowd of around 60 gathered at Triton Square as he railed against the imposition of mask use. Some of the protestors were booked by the police for not wearing face masks or visors in contravention of anti-COVID-19 measures.

In a rambling sermon of over an hour and a half, he touched upon a number of conspiracy theories, questioning the science behind the COVID-19 vaccine, wireless internet frequencies and face-mask use.

Ragonesi, who recently filed a judicial protest in the name of demonstrators questioning the science behind the mandatory face-mask, asked for the publication of studies on the safety of vaccines.

He also claimed that internet data routers and wireless hotspots were giving off dangerous electromagnetic frequencies, saying the authorities were not giving full information on these issues.

“For almost 5 years our position has been that we have not been protecting the population from electromagnetic radiation,” Ragonesi told the MaltaToday. “The Council of Europe issued resolution 1815 calling upon members states to impose much more stringent standard to protect citizens from EM radiation. We are calling on government to implement this resolution. Because if that does not happen, the increased exposure is going to cause a lot of health issues. This is something which has been stated by the EMF scientists themselves. We would like to see the same concern as that on COVID.”

A deep-rooted suspicion towards the information being disseminated by the authorities and the mainstream media was leading to confusion. “We don’t know who is right and who is wrong,” Ragonesi said, denouncing the handling of the crisis. “We have every right to ask doctors why.”

The rally was also attended by members from several fringe groups, some handing out flyers about how the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, Microsoft and the Rockefeller foundation wanted to “integrate a Biometric ID system along with a record of vaccination will employ Quantum Dot Tattoo technology, that utilises Luciferase to emit a signal in the infrared range, thereby connecting the subject of such medical tattoo to the Blockchain via the cloud” and linking it to the Book of Revelation.

Some of the organisers were keen to dismiss the label of “antivaxxers” explaining that their opposition to any vaccine was that it was “not properly tested” before being rolled out. One protestor, carrying a home-made placard denouncing the World Health Organisation as corruptors of government, swab tests as ‘fake’ and the mass media as ‘fake news’ had his placard snatched out of his hands by some of the organisers.

The protestors arguments were “based on science,” they said, pointing repeatedly to the “50,000 doctors and medical scientists around the world” who signed the Great Barringdon Declaration – widely considered a cognogen, which is based on the false premise that governments intend to lock down society, and cherry-picks facts to support it. Those protestors spoken to by the MaltaToday were unmoved by the suggestion that there were far more doctors and scientists who had discredited this declaration.

The issue is essentially always one: the right to enjoyment of personal property, Ragonesi told the crowd of supporters, going on to say that electromagnetic pollution from mobile service providers was causing people to be denied the right to enjoyment of their personal property.

“A message to the general public: we are making no allegations. We are asking questions and have a right to their answers. How can it make sense that you have 50 people in a restaurant without masks but if I’m on a beach alone I’d have to wear a mask?

“We are not here to be inconsiderate to the vulnerable. It’s an insult to us to say we aren’t considerate to the vulnerable. But let me tell you that the World Economic Forum is trying to make children feel guilty that if they aren’t following the regulations, they are responsible for their grandparents’ welfare. They put them on a guilt trip.”

“If we ask all those questions and you don’t provide the science, what are you hiding from?”