Occupy Justice ‘illegal’ donations: PN, PL accused of ‘joining forces’ against activist group

The PN and PL have been accused of joining forces against an activist group that is being accused of collecting donations illegally.

Earlier this week, sections of the media received a letter from a certain Erika Mizzi, who claimed she had resigned from Occupy Justice because she had been asked to collect donations illegally. In the letter it was claimed that the activists group collects around €6,000 a month, with the writer claiming that there was no record of where the money was going.

When contacted by the Labour Party media, who were first to report on the letter, members of Occupy Justice did not deny that the group was collecting donations. They said, however, that they did not know a person called Erika Mizzi, hinting that she did not even exist.

One News reported that Occupy Justice is not registered with the office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations.

The pressure group has also been under fire from the PN media, which reported on Sunday that members of Occupy Justice were involved in efforts to introduce abortion in Malta.  The group has been calling for PN Leader Adrian Delia's resignation over claims of domestic abuse, made by his wife Nickie Vella de Fremeaux. The couple are currently going through a bitter separation case.

In a statement on Friday, another activist group with very close relations to Occupy Justice, Repubblika, accused the PN and PL of joining forces against Occupy Justice. "The Labour Party and the Nationalist party are using their TVs and their media to suffocate free speech and crush the right to protest," it said.

The group said it was "concerned by the disproportionate and unfair retaliation of the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party that have used and are using their media to carry lies and twist facts in order to discredit and intimidate civil society activists."

"What happened this week to Occupy Justice activists is nothing short of an outrage on free expression and the right to protest," it said.

Accusing the party media of "fake news" and "twisting and manipulating facts," Repubblika said the State "has the duty and responsibility to protect free association, the right of citizens — alone or in groups — to speak up without State interference, the right to free speech, the right of different groups to cooperate, the right of free assembly and public protest and the right for activists to seek and secure resources from those that wish to support them even if anonymously."

from The Malta Independent http://bit.ly/2R7tFL6
via IFTTT