Be the first to comment!“Fines amnesty is a big insult to the Police Force” – MPA
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The Malta Police Association in a statement on social media said that Prime Minister Robert Abela’s announcement for amnesty on some of the fines issued through Covid-19 directives, is a “big insult to all the work carried out by the Police Force over the last few months.”
Members of the Police Force “deserve much better, for all their efforts,” stated the MPA.
The Association argued that many of the officers risked their health and that of their families to ensure the observance of the legal notices issued by the Health Superintendence.
It said that while the Malta Police Association has always appreciated the Police Force line; “which believes that a person should be educated as much as possible and not necessarily prosecuted,” it believes “that the courts and tribunals of Justice should have the powers to decide the outcome of any decision and without political pressure.”
“Do not forget that the work of police and various other entities with the release of various restrictions, increased, not decreased, this was to ensure the law was observed and for the protection of the people’s health in Malta and Gozo,” it said.
The Association asked the Prime Minister “how he expected the police and the other concerned entities to continue to do their work in respect of these same restrictions, when at the same time he is informing the public that they may not lead to any kind of summons, which automatically introduces the mentality that everything is permissible?”
The MPA pointed out that “even if a person fails to wear a seat belt or does not park a vehicle in a safe manner, is not a crime,” and therefore, the MPA said that it “believes that this will be creating discrimination on various offences, possibly also by genuine people.”
The MPA called for “respect for the current and future work of the Police Force to carry out its duties under the law of Malta and “not what is said in interviews on some television programme.”
The MPA concluded by saying that it feels the statement by the Prime Minister, “is an insult to the majority of the Maltese and Gozitans who, during this period were disciplined and observed all the laws issued.”
