The assault on teenager Liam Debono on Friday night was certainly shocking, but the vitriol that followed on the social media was even more so.

We have since found out that the troubled youth was not beaten up over the infamous case in which he stands charged with attempting to murder policeman Simon Schembri. Instead, it was an argument over a girl.

Nonetheless, the comments that were directed at Debono on the social media and some news portal comment boards exposed the hate, intolerance and unforgiving nature that is sadly prevalent in our community.

Some people wrote that this was Karma (with one person adding that the word was spelt ha-ha-ha). Others said Debono “got what was coming”, or that “you reap what you sow.”

“Who cares, they (the men who assaulted him) did not do a good enough job,” wrote another. “He got just what he needs,” another comment read.

Let us keep in mind that at this time on Friday night people still believed that the youth had been beaten up by someone seeking revenge for Simon Schembri. Effectively, this means that people were actually happy at the thought that a lynch mob had set on the 17-year-old and dished out some Western style justice.

This is what we have come to, unfortunately, and it is all the result of the hatred that is allowed to spew in a supposedly majority Catholic country. Many people, it seems, believe that they can wash away their sins by giving a substantial donation to l-Istrina at the end of the year, but the reality is that they live a very different kind of life throughout the rest of the year.

Let us be clear: we condemn the action allegedly carried out by Debono, especially since it was aimed at a public official, and we believe that justice should be meted out as per the provisions of the law. But we also believe in the concept that Debono is innocent until proven guilty and that he has the same rights as the rest of us, however heinous the crime he is being accused of is. He is still a human being and deserves the right to a fair trial and the right to live in safety.

Many do not share our views it seems, and this is evident from other cases as well. Certain people feel that the moment someone is accused of a crime then they are no longer human and should be constrained to some sub-class.

We see it all the time on the comments boards: if someone is accused of child molestation then they should be castrated; if a foreigner commits a crime then they should be expelled from the country, never to return; if someone causes an accident then they should be banned for life.

We are not saying that people who commit crimes should not be punished. We are not even going into the merits of whether prison solves the problem or actually makes it worse. But the fact remains that fundamental human rights are not suspended once someone is accused of a crime, especially if, like in this case, that someone has not even been found guilty yet.

Unfortunately, the media often plays a big part in the demonization of individuals. Some media outlets respect the unwritten sub judice rule and refrain from commenting on ongoing cases. Others tend to speculate and sentationalise the news.

We made it amply clear this week that we did not agree with Xarabank’s decision to interview Liam Debono. We believed the interview to be in bad taste. We also believe that putting the youth on prime time TV could have been counterproductive – maybe it is far wiser to let people forget his name and face for now, and leave justice to the courts. Quite frankly the media has talked about this particular case ad nauseam and, in view of a lack of new developments in the case, there is nothing to justify interviewing Liam Debono.  Let sleeping dogs lie, they say.

On the other hand we made it very clear that we did not agree with Magistrate Joe Mifsud’s decision to ban Xarabank from airing the interview, which had the blessing of Agenzija Appogg.  This has created a dangerous precedent and is a threat to freedom of expression and press freedom.

We feel that the decision not to publish the interview should have been reached through common sense by the producers, and not in the courts.

We also have to point out that the Children’s Commissioner has so far shied away from the issue which deals with the rights of an underage individual, which is very concerning. There was also silence this week when, in a sex abuse case, a lawyer suggested that girls nowadays are “not what they used to be” and are more sexually active.  It is a shame that only the head of the Church’s safeguarding commission spoke up about this.

And the President, who often speaks about the rights of children and minors, has also been conspicuously silent.

From the top down we need to fight against this growing mentality of hatred and revenge.

The demonization of people accused of a crime will only lead to a situation where they can never hope to reform themselves, because society will always see him as a demon.

This is, unfortunately, the environment we are raising our children into. Our future generations are not learning anything except hate, venom and violence.