The law on inciting racial hatred would be updated to include comments made against people overseas, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said. He told the Times of Malta he would be looking at a recommendation recently made by Magistrate Aaron Bugeja who called upon legislators to widen the law's definition after a prison warder was acquitted despite posting a comment online saying he hoped refugees were burning inside a shelter. Magistrate Bugeja noted that the phenomenon of racism was not tied to a particular territory but went beyond Maltese waters. "This court cannot change the law itself. The law must be changed by the legislator," he noted. The court felt the scope of the law should be widened to also protect people not present in Malta in cases where the person expressing racial hatred was on the island. Article 82A of the Criminal Code describes racial hatred as an act against a person or a group of people in Malta. In October 2015, Vincent Debono, a former policeman, posted a comment below an article being shared on Facebook entitled 'Third refugee shelter torched in Sweden in six days'. He wrote: "I hope its (sic) burning with them inside." He was charged with misuse of...
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