Were it any Maltese man, he would not have been arrested. Were it any Maltese man, he might have been given a few choice insults, but he would most certainly not have been spat at, slapped and abused because of the colour of his skin.
What we are talking about is, of course, the treatment dished out to the black man who had the temerity to tell a bunch of Maltese people to form an orderly line. As soon as the police turned up, a district police officer was heard telling RIU officers to be careful because the news cameras were there. Then he was heard telling the journalists to not film the incident because the RIU chaps were ‘only doing their job’. If it was not for a woman who had seen the whole thing unfold and had the guts to speak up despite the crowd baying for the Hungarian man’s arrest, he would have been thrown into the back of a car and probably charged in court.
The government has ordered an inquiry into the way he was summarily arrested, but this kind of behaviour is indicative of what is going on within the RIU squad. The Police Commissioner, who was appointed to sort out the mess left behind by his two predecessors, was appointed by the government to bring some discipline back to the Corps. He has already been faced with two public incidents (who knows what others have not made it to the media) where serious allegations have been made against RIU officers.
It will not be an easy task. While we believe that at face value, the actions of the RIU officers were uncalled for, of hasty judgment and heavy handed, more criticism is deserving for those in the crowd who not only were passive to the woman’s behaviour, but actually gave false statement to the police by telling them that Daboma Jack was the person who instigated the confrontation and told them that he should be arrested.
Did it matter that he was a university student? No. Did it matter that he was a father? No. Did it matter that he was trying to do the right thing and did nothing wrong? No. Simply because he was black. If he was any other nationality, the police would have responded differently. If he was Maltese, the police would have done what they normally do and lead them away with some calming, “ ejja ma naqalawx polemici, imxi l’hawn”. Make no mistake, the treatment that was dished out was simply because of the colour of his skin. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves and the attitude shown by the assailant (make no mistake because that’s what she is) and her conspirators in crime (again, make no mistake because that is what they are).
Just a few weeks ago, Malta was full of praises for Alfred Effiong who scored a wonder goal against Latvia. Did it matter that he was black? Of course not, because he is Maltese and he gave us something to cheer about. What an absolutely disgraceful set of two weights and two measures. We should hang our head in collective shame. And that woman that had the courage to stand up and tell the truth should be given recognition in the national awards ceremony, for courage and a sense of social justice.