Malta: Attorney General reignites obscenity case

April 5th, 2011

The author of a fictional story of sexual conquests may yet face jail on the conservative Mediterranean island. Charles Young reports
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Maltese student no longer faces jail for story

March 16th, 2011

Court’s decision is a boost for Malta’s anti-censorship campaign, reports Charles Young
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Malta bans Irvine Welsh novel

May 18th, 2010

A book by the Scottish author Irvine Welsh has been banned in Malta. The University of Malta has taken Walsh’s novel Porno off its library shelves. Malta’s censorship laws state that “obscene or pornographic” literature should not be available to the public and the country’s classification board must approve all literature. Porno, a sequel to the Walsh’s best-selling Trainspotting, features characters involved in the porn industry.

‘Phallic’ sculpture provokes clash ahead of Pope’s Malta visit

April 15th, 2010

The Maltese Front Against Censorship said that it believes that a penis-like sculpture at Luqa should not be removed before the Pope visits the capital of Malta, Valetta, this weekend. The Mayor of Luqa, John Schembri, said yesterday that the sculpture, on the Pope’s route to Valetta, should be taken down “as a sign of respect”. Colonna Mediterranea (Mediteranean Column) is the work of ceramic artist and sculptor Paul Vella Critien and was installed on a roundabout at the entrance to the village of Luqa in January 2006.

Malta: MEPs asked to raise concerns over censorship

March 31st, 2010

The Maltese Front Against Censorship has asked the country’s MEPs to raise the country’s case in the European Parliament. The Front is concerned with recent infringements on freedom of expression, which include punishment of carnival revellers for dressing up as Christ, the ban of the play Stitching, the threat of a prison sentence to a newspaper editor for publishing an erotic story, and the suspended prison sentence to an artist for offending against the Catholic religion. In February, protesters gathered  in the capital Valetta, against escalating censorship by government agencies.