The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) overturned a decision to ban the play Stitching, which was originally banned in Malta in 2010.
Speaking to The Malta Independent, producer Adrian Buckle said that his reaction to the European court’s decision was “obviously one of relief and satisfaction.”
“We had been fighting this battle over the past nine years, and the stress and financial toll were taking their due,” he said. “However, now we can say that we have closed the book on one of the darkest episodes ever experienced by Maltese Theatre.”
The ECHR ordered Malta to pay €20,000 to the theatre company, Unifaun Theatre Productions Limited, and Maltese nationals Adrian Buckle, Christopher Gatt, Maria Pia Zammit and Mikhail Acopovich Basmadjian after unlawfully banning the play by Scottish playwright Anthony Neilson.
In December 2008, the theatre company applied to the Board for Film and Stage Classification for a rating certificate ahead of a planned staging of the play. However, the board banned the play and the theatre company took their case to the European court.
“We feel vindicated because we never agreed with the judgments passed by the Maltese Courts, which were, to say the least, amateurish in nature,” said Buckle. “As my co producer Chris Gatt mentioned to another news outlet, it is time that the Maltese judiciary are equipped and trained to handle such cases so there won't be a repeat of this terrible incident.”
Are the team planning on bringing Stitching back to Maltese theatre following the ruling?
“Obviously,” said Buckle, “but a play is not staged on a whim. It needs planning. I will meet my team at the earliest convenience and discuss with them how soon we could stage this play.”
The reasons for the decision to ban the play included; the play being blasphemous, showing contempt for the victims of the Auschwitz death camp, portraying dangerous sexual perversions and referring to the sexual assault of children.
The court ordered the joint payment of €10,000 in respect of non-pecunciary damage and €10,000 in respect of costs and expenses to those four applicants.
Both the government and the Labour Party praised the decision taken by the court, saying it was yet another victory for freedom of expression.