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Far-rightist convicted on racial hatred, claims criminal charges were orchestrated
Norman Lowell gives his support to Joseph Muscat over pushback attempt
19 July 2013, 12:00am
Jurgen Balzan
Jurgen Balzan
4 min read
Far-rightist Norman Lowell has extended his support to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's attempt to push back asylum seekers to Libya, before they can apply for protection.
Lowell, who has unsuccessfully run for office in two European Parliament elections, today said he will publish a book in which he will allege that four criminal charges on incitement to racial hatred were part of a premeditated attempt to gag him.
Lowell, who was charged in 2006, said a series of articles were published by a newspaper days before he was arrested. A journalist later admitted to have been forced to write the stories in a bid to have libel charges against him dropped.
While insisting that "the real fascists are the liberals who want to gag people," Lowell claimed the orchestration was led by a group of individuals wanting to "hide the reality of millions in euros received by NGOs dealing with migrants."
He recently was convicted on appeal to 15 months' imprisonment, suspended for three years, for incitement to racial hatred. A fourth charge of insulting the Office of the President of Malta was not upheld, and a €500 penalty was dropped.
Lawyer Emmy Bezzina claimed the charges on incitement to racial hatred were orchestrated by somebody who wanted to silence Lowell and remove him from the political scene.
Bezzina questioned why Lowell was charged on an article he penned online, back in 2003, three years later.
He said his client had only aired his views in his full right of freedom of expression, and that two other charges were related to private meetings he had held at restaurants, where he was accused of spreading racial hatred.
Firebrand Lowell also launched himself into an invective against migrants, describing asylum seekers as "a cultural danger", and that he supported Muscat for putting pushbacks on the mainstream agenda.
"Had he gone ahead, he would be a hero for the whole of Europe. But he lost his nerve after having prepared everything," he said, referring to temporary stop orders issued by the European Court of Human Rights that put an end to the attempted pushback.
Lowell suggested that Malta should open its own embassies in such African countries as Somalia and Sudan, to issue passports that would allow asylum seekers to fly to back home.
Lowell could not answer to questions by journalists that Malta was unable to provide passports to non-EU nationals who are not Maltese citizens.
In a tirade against Brussels, Lowell said Muscat will be taken for a ride by the EU. "They want to destroy Malta in the same way they destroyed the UK, Spain and France," Lowell, who will be running for the European Parliament again in 2014, said.
Asked whether Muscat was right in abiding by the European Court of Human Rights order, which said that the pushback of migrants to Libya was illegal, Lowell said that this was the reason why he should be elected to the European Parliament.
Although the court is part of the Council of Europe and not the EU, Lowell said: "Once I am elected, all this nonsense will stop. Our first step will be to repeal these heinous laws."
"Imperium Europa can save Malta and Europe if I and two or three others will be elected to the European parliament," he claimed.
However he said that his chances of being elected are slim since the Maltese electorate is mainly made up of idiots (il-gahan Malti). Asked he ruled out contesting the European elections in another country, because he is not a "mercenary."
Opening a tirade against NGOs working in the sector, Lowell singled out the Jesuits and women working with Maltese NGO's who he said "are so ugly that they turn man into gays."
"Ask the lawyers, the NGOs and the Jesuits from where they get the money. The money comes from the EU. I also ask where is the money going and how is it being used."
Following a brief address in English, which was recorded for his "foreign audience," Lowell answered questions posed by journalists once the cameras stopped rolling.
Claiming that African countries such as Somalia are experiencing an economic boom, Lowell said: "why should thousands come to scrounge and milk our system and make use of free health and education without paying a cent for them."
Asked how many migrants were in Malta, Lowell said: "Nobody knows how many migrants are in Malta," adding that he has been informed that migrants were entering Malta undetected.
Insisting on calling migrants "illegal," Lowell said that apart from the cultural problem, migrants were driving wages down and blamed avid businessmen for nurturing this problem.
He added that migrants "are a break on progress," and unless a solution was found, Malta would become a "Haiti in the Mediterranean."
Jurgen Balzan was a MaltaToday reported from 2011 to 2017.
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I was there while Lowell was speaking and he clearly pointed out that passports should be issued so that illegal immigrants can go back to their homelands not to fly to European countries
Anthony Galea •
This is the full version of Lowell's statement so that readers can judge for themselves without selective and biased reporting.
http://youtu.be/vlMiODutY_s
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Dear MaltaToday,
You are utterly misquoting and mis-informing the public. Lowell clearly stated that the passports are only issued so that they can go back to their respective countries, because they get rid of theirs.
In fact Lowell says "Europe? We don't betray Europe, they go back to their countries". Moreover, all questions were answered clearly and directly by Mr.Lowell. I only invite the public to watch the video of the conference on Youtube.
I hope this is because your journalists lack English skills and not a deliberate attack.
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Dear MaltaToday,
You are utterly misquoting and mis-informing the public. Lowell clearly stated that the passports are only issued so that they can go back to their respective countries, because they get rid of theirs.
In fact Lowell says "Europe? We don't betray Europe, they go back to their countries". Moreover, all questions were answered clearly and directly by Mr.Lowell. I only invite the public to watch the video of the conference on Youtube.
I hope this is because your journalists lack English skills and not a deliberate attack.
•
Dear MaltaToday,
You are utterly misquoting and mis-informing the public. Lowell clearly stated that the passports are only issued so that they can go back to their respective countries, because they get rid of theirs.
In fact Lowell says "Europe? We don't betray Europe, they go back to their countries". Moreover, all questions were answered clearly and directly by Mr.Lowell. I only invite the public to watch the video of the conference on Youtube.
I hope this is because your journalists lack English skills and not a deliberate attack.
•
Dear MaltaToday,
You are utterly misquoting and mis-informing the public. Lowell clearly stated that the passports are only issued so that they can go back to their respective countries, because they get rid of theirs.
In fact Lowell says "Europe? We don't betray Europe, they go back to their countries". Moreover, all questions were answered clearly and directly by Mr.Lowell. I only invite the public to watch the video of the conference on Youtube.
I hope this is because your journalists lack English skills and not a deliberate attack.
•
Dear MaltaToday,
You are utterly misquoting and mis-informing the public. Lowell clearly stated that the passports are only issued so that they can go back to their respective countries, because they get rid of theirs.
In fact Lowell says "Europe? We don't betray Europe, they go back to their countries". Moreover, all questions were answered clearly and directly by Mr.Lowell. I only invite the public to watch the video of the conference on Youtube.
I hope this is because your journalists lack English skills and not a deliberate attack.
•
Dear MaltaToday,
You are utterly misquoting and mis-informing the public. Lowell clearly stated that the passports are only issued so that they can go back to their respective countries, because they get rid of theirs.
In fact Lowell says "Europe? We don't betray Europe, they go back to their countries". Moreover, all questions were answered clearly and directly by Mr.Lowell. I only invite the public to watch the video of the conference on Youtube.
I hope this is because your journalists lack English skills and not a deliberate attack.
•
Dear MaltaToday,
You are utterly misquoting and mis-informing the public. Lowell clearly stated that the passports are only issued so that they can go back to their respective countries, because they get rid of theirs.
In fact Lowell says "Europe? We don't betray Europe, they go back to their countries". Moreover, all questions were answered clearly and directly by Mr.Lowell. I only invite the public to watch the video of the conference on Youtube.
I hope this is because your journalists lack English skills and not a deliberate attack.
•
Dear MaltaToday,
You are utterly misquoting and mis-informing the public. Lowell clearly stated that the passports are only issued so that they can go back to their respective countries, because they get rid of theirs.
In fact Lowell says "Europe? We don't betray Europe, they go back to their countries". Moreover, all questions were answered clearly and directly by Mr.Lowell. I only invite the public to watch the video of the conference on Youtube.
I hope this is because your journalists lack English skills and not a deliberate attack.
•
Dear MaltaToday,
You are utterly misquoting and mis-informing the public. Lowell clearly stated that the passports are only issued so that they can go back to their respective countries, because they get rid of theirs.
In fact Lowell says "Europe? We don't betray Europe, they go back to their countries". Moreover, all questions were answered clearly and directly by Mr.Lowell. I only invite the public to watch the video of the conference on Youtube.
I hope this is because your journalists lack English skills and not a deliberate attack.
•
Dear MaltaToday,
You are utterly misquoting and mis-informing the public. Lowell clearly stated that the passports are only issued so that they can go back to their respective countries, because they get rid of theirs.
In fact Lowell says "Europe? We don't betray Europe, they go back to their countries". Moreover, all questions were answered clearly and directly by Mr.Lowell. I only invite the public to watch the video of the conference on Youtube.
I hope this is because your journalists lack English skills and not a deliberate attack.
•
Little things pleases little minds, Mr Antoine Vella. I'm sure that your interpretation of facts is as f**ked-up as is Lowell's interpretation of JMs intentions. But then you are a nazzjonalist ippatentjat and would not understand this, would you?
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If Joseph Muscat thought he would be able to control the wave of racism he set in motion, here is Lowell to prove him wrong.
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Lowell is not a stupid person. He may be declaring that his chances of being elected to the European Parliament in May 2014 are slim, in order to attract votes. The present Prime Minister often declared that the PL was the underdog before the election, while Malta Today's surveys put him quite clearly in the lead - even personally well above Gonzi - and heading for victory especially due to Gonzi's bad electoral strategies making him crash gas down into the wall. Even Gonzi's intentions of "celebrating on the 10th March" were not so convincing! I wonder if a Malta Today survey today, compared to previous ones, would show Lowell as having "slim" chances to become an MEP. Maybe his chances are not so slim and he knows it?
eleonoray86cws Ca?uana •
The last thing Muscat needs right now is being endorsed by the neo-Nazis!
Anthony Galea •
Jurgen Balzan has clearly misinterpreted what Lowell said. He said that Malta should establish diplomatic relations with the countries of origin of illegal immigrants so that through its embassies there it would insist on passports being issued to enable those in Malta illegally to be repatriated to their own country of origin. He definitely said that they should not be sent on to Europe. But them when did something as trivial as the truth get in the way of this newspaper.
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Mr Lowell I am sure the Prime Minister is in no need for your support, or the support of extremist right wingers like yourself. mark cassar
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BBC -19 July 2013 Last updated at 07:11 ET
Australia to send asylum-seekers to PNG
People arriving by boat to seek asylum will no longer be resettled in Australia but will go to Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced.
The news came as Mr Rudd set out an overhaul of asylum policy ahead of a general election expected shortly.
Australia has seen a sharp rise in the number of asylum-seekers arriving by boat in recent months.
Mr Rudd said the "hard-line decision" was taken to ensure border security.
It was also aimed at dissuading people from making the dangerous journey to Australia by boat.
"Our country has had enough of people-smugglers exploiting asylum-seekers and seeing them drown on the high seas," he said.
For more info go to the BBC website
