Genius criminal lawyer Franco Debono does not know what a hate crime is, it has transpired.
Debono, who is very smart and famously scored 100 in his Form 3 religion exam, yesterday reported Brikkuni frontman Mario Vella to the police for hate speech, after the latter called him “an unscrupulous narcissist” and his followers “idiots”.
While there is no specific legal definition of hate speech in international law, according to the United Nations it is generally understood to be is “any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are, in other words, based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender or political beliefs”.
However, for a hate crime to have taken place, Vella would have had to incite discrimination, hostility or violence against the talented, popular and handsome lawyer and his highly intelligent followers.
It is unclear what caused the otherwise highly knowledgeable and completely mentally stable Debono to have such a lapse. Sources suggest his massive brain may have been distracted by thinking about a possible bid to become PN leader.
Meanwhile, in a video posted to Facebook, Debono also defended himself against Vella’s specific comments.
“What’s unscrupulous about repeatedly getting alleged rapists, paedophiles, drug dealers and other upstanding members of society off the hook? It’s not my fault I’m brilliant at what I do,” he said.
