Leader of the often controversial Moviment Patrijotti Maltin has distanced a protest it has organised from the death of a 24-year-old man from Swieqi named Zack Meli.

Last Sunday, local media reported that Meli had been punched by a Bulgarian national and as a result of his injuries, he died late on at Mater Dei Hospital.

Later on, police issued a statement to say that there were no signs of violence and the cause of death is so far inconclusive.

Prior to the police statement, local media were also circulating a social media post by a cousin of Meli who said that he was killed “early morning in Paceville with a blow to the head by someone he did not know,” referring to the Bulgarian national.

He was arrested on suspicion after he was spotted in the scuffle with Meli through CCTV camera however the inconclusive autopsy and other question marks raised have led to him being released on police bail.

On the day when Meli died, media reports centred around the actions of the Bulgarian national. Alex Pisani, President of the movement, uploaded an image on Facebook calling for a national protest against “beatings” being suffered by local youth at the hands of foreigners, with a screen grab of a Net News story stating Meli lost his life after being punched.

Pressed on the fact that this image makes people understand that the protest has been organised off of what happened to Meli, and that it can be perceived as scoring political points off a tragedy, Battistino stressed that the protest is about a lack of security plaguing the nation.

He added that it is also about Moviment Patrijotti Maltin’s request that all foreigners found guilty of committing crimes should be deported back to their home country.

Asked how people were supposed to believe that the protest is not going to take place because of the tragic death of Meli, Battistino said a distinction has to be made between the Maltese Patriots Group (Ghaqda Patrijotti Maltin), where the poster was uploaded, and the political group Maltese Patriot Movement (Moviment Patrijotti Maltin).

He said that what has been shared is not Moviment Patrijotti Maltin’s official poster, which will be released today.

“What happened to Zack has nothing to do with our protest. Zack is one example of several crimes being committed against Maltese on a daily basis. We even have Maltese mothers who speak out about what is happening to their children on a daily basis.

“What happened to Zack is terrible and unfortunate, but he is certainly not the reason behind the protest.”

On the poster being shared, which has suffered the wrath of Meli’s friends who described how he would have been shocked to see what happened to him being used in this way, Battistino said:

“Alex Pisani is the person who uploaded the post. Every day crimes are being committed. Every time crimes are committed by foreigners we always upload to social media. On that day, every media house including TVM described how this man was punched in the face by a Bulgarian, and later died in hospital due to his injuries.

“I am the leader of the party, and not Pisani. Do not forget that on the Ghaqda Patrijotti Maltin social media group we have 16,000 members and everyone has a right to post. As long as they do not cross limits, I cannot control what is posted.”

He repeatedly and vociferously stressed that this protest is not being organised because of Meli, and that a protest was in the pipeline regardless.

Battistino called into question how the media began reporting that this man was killed as a result of the punch received by the Bulgarian national, and then Labour media describes him as a “junky”.

“How did this man go from a victim to a junky? It is not right.”

He questioned how information gets released as soon as an incident happens, and is then changed quickly after by the authorities, implying that something sinister or “fishy” is going on, referring to an incident where a police officer is insisting that a Malian man shortly before being placed under arrest urinated on officers, while the police themselves issued a statement saying it is untrue.

Battistino urged for local newsrooms to check the facts properly before blindly releasing statements.

He also stressed that his party’s main concern is the volume of people in Malta, an unsustainable figure which can be seen from the roads, public services, social services, police stretched thin and uncontrollable traffic.

Battistino claimed that the group is not racist, and that members are even married to foreigners, but that Malta is simply too small to cater for such volume of people.