Saturday, 20th June 2009 - 11:52CET
PL media executive assaulted
PL media executive Charlon Gouder was assaulted by two unknown persons while at a nighclub with his wife near Rabat last night.
He suffered blows and kicks but managed to escape his assailants and called for treatment at Mosta health centre. He also filed a police report.
Mr Gouder reported that the two men insulted him and the party, before starting to hit him.
The Labour Party in a statement condemned the incident and urged the police to do all they could to identify and arraigned those responsible..
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Comments
I wasn't being apologetic for what happened, but if one chooses to go to certain places one can expect these things to happen.
Ma gara xejn. Kont qed nikkumenta fuq affarijiet zghar bla importanza.
What do you expect people to do? Cry? Feel sorry? These are things that happen when a country is taking its first steps. They are ideological battles (I know you'll be sarcastic on this one too!) that at the end of the day make a country.
There's no fuss because Labour supporters don't feel the pain Giovan . Mur zommok lilek kieku idabbar xi daqtejn minn xi Laburisti hamalli u fis-sakra.
Why do you find it so hard to change your style even after 46,000 PN supporters told you on the 6 June that your way is detrimental to your precious Gonzipn.
We have seen such perpetrators relapsing several times and leaving court with just a slap on the wrist.
This sends out the signal that taking the law in your own hands is the way to go, that is why we have so many abuses, arsons, beatings and vandalisms.
And then for speeding at 65kph on a road that is supposed to be rated 80kmp you are fined over €100. The authorities have lost their sense of justice and common sense.
"All this fuss because of a fight at a night club"
First: This is not a fight but an assault on Charlon because of his political believes
Second: This assault didn’t happen at a night club but the aggressors were waiting outside the CLUB therefore this was meant to happen.
Third: I wander what you would have said if the assaulted person was Pierre Portelli or another PN activist….
Please be honest at least with yourself.
"This incident is clearly a politically motivated one. PN thugs and violence are surfacing back." -
So you are making claims that you have actual proof of this? How do you know... please explain it is so unclear to me... and regarding your last comment about PN thugs and violence are surfacing back... perhaps you confused the history of the 80's but everybody knows who suffered violence during that time!!
I would like to point out to everyone that the person causing trouble at Zejtun has no affiliation with the PL, even if he claims to be. Moreover, the PL has condemned the incident and asked that for the perpetrators to be arriagned. Just to make things clear.
The PN has not come out with some form of condemn yet. For me this gives the impression that the PN is not contrary to violence and by not saying anything the GonziPN acknowledges the incedent rather than condemning it.
This incident is clearly a politically motivated one. PN thugs and violence are surfacing back.
Doesn't that tell you anything?
So do you believe that both sides have a tale to tell when it comes to political violence?
Did you say the same thing with regard to the Zejtun incident?
The incident brought me back bad memories.
In l987, after the Zejtun incidents I tried to visit the injured in hospital at St Luke's hospital. . I never hurt a fly in my life. I made no difference. When the Nationalist supporters spotted me they attacked me.
on the 21st of January l987 when I was still attending Parliament, a bomb was placed at the doorstep of my farmhouse in a not so remote part of Zurrieq.
My son James used to study there because it was quiet . With him was a Nationalist friend of his from Mellieha. They had just left.
The car he used to drive, a White Mazda, was parked in the driveway. Who ever planted the bomb wanted to kill him.
I will never forget the terrifying voice of my wife when she called me in Parliament . She never recovered from that shock. The bomb did not manage to kill my combative spirit but it sure helped to dampen it.
reno calleja
What is most scandalous is the fact that these people are given what they want by the party in government, no matter what.
That is one of the facts that makes politics as dirty as ever. And most probably this will go on for ever!!!!
In my (mispent) youth, many a time i got into scuffles at discoes we used to call them back then. my political lenings being well known at the time, i occasionally did get the occasional taunt at my socialist beliefs, but I cannot say i was innocent in what I said either! Nobody back then (except Mum) ever made a fuss about one broken tooth, 3 or 4 black eyes, and a couple of bloodied noce incidents where I was on the receiving end. No comment please about when I was dishing it out ! Dear me, we must be living in much more civilised ( or sissy) times if so much fuss is being made over a scuffle.
"Had I intended to take sides regarding this issue, I would have perhaps mentioned the Zejtun incident during the MEP elections"
You just did...you just did.
Talk about blue-tinted corneas!
The point I’m trying to make is that as far as I’m concerned this was an act of two cowards and we have PN cowards as well as PL cowards but conveniently when something ugly like this happens and the cowards are PL supporters the PN spins the whole incident to make it look like a PL covert operation. Do I need to remind you of typical incidents?
Having said that, and for what it’s worth, I have it from eye witnesses that during the physical abuse on Mr and Ms Gouder, the two cowards made several disparaging remarks against the PL .
If ever this dastard act sees itself in our court of laws you would get to know much more about the animalistic tendencies the two monsters demonstrated at Gianpula. Spelling out what I learned would further hurt the victims. So please Mr Borg just do not even try to look for justification because in this particular case you will never find any.
Well done Reno ! From the comfort of your home you are giving the police a helping hand in their investigations, telling them that they are two Nationalists who beat Charlon. So, according to you, the Police have to investigate ONLY just over 40 % of the population. U hallina, Ren !!! Whilst, once again I express my full solidarity with the Gouder couple ( who ever did it ), I am sure that Reno could have commented better on such an incident. He knows better !
I am relying on what Mr. Gouder said when he reported the incident ie that the assailants started insulting him about the Labour Party. If I am not mistaken, the news on super One radio and T.V. also highlighted this fact.
True Mr Gouder is a 'pest' when it comes to do his job. When I use pest I mean persistent, insistsent and unrelenting in gettng the truth out of those whom he asking questions. But some of the p.n. journalists. I do not recall the names but I remember two p.n. journalists a male and a female who really would make life very difficult for Alfred Sant before the elecftions. Indeed I used to admire them because that is their job. I am a journalist by profession and in the sixties and early seventies I was a pain in the neck to those who had the misfortune of being investigated by me.
I am sure those cowards who brually attacked Charlon Gouder do not represent the moderate section of the P.N.
James I not know the identity of the assailants but I do know that they are PN supporters. No I can't give you tangible proof for that but if our police do their bit properly the culprits will be caught and then you will have your tangible proof. How do I know that the culprits were PN supporters,meet me on Facebook and I will tell you and the world how.
Of course, this did not stop the PN from claiming that the perpetrators were Labour supporters.
What is your view on this matter?
From the logical side of it, I think it would have been someone from PL who attacked you.!!
Another case of "Only in Malta".
Take care.
We have so much to open our mind in this country!!! There is still so much ignorance and brain-washing that it simply disgust me!
Get well soon Mr. Gouder. I am sure that you will get out of this even a stronger person and more determined in what you believe in, because after all we are suppose to be living in a diplomatic country in 2009 and free to express our mind!
PS. Hope my comment will be published today!!!
This is what you wrote "No we do not need, nor desire to go back to the 70s and 80s" without referring to the Sixties. Joe Grima did not refer to any particular timespan of our turbulent past but you can always address his comments directly.
All parties have their dark piece of history which we have heard ad nauseam. To portray the Labour Party so negatively as you always do in your writing is winning your PN no brownie points. Malta is in a quagmire and we who live here need to find solutions.
You would do well if you returned to Malta in order to spend some months mingling with people, living in our conditions and experiencing the general air of discontent amongst the Maltese people. Two weeks ago Malta went to the polls and the Labour Party won with a 35K vote majority. This is the latest indicator to which political agenda the Maltese favour most.
Maltese youth of 2009 are much more tolerant and open-minded. Let us harbour a million ideological difference with one unifying overall aim: that of improving daily life on these islands.
Meanwhile let us all wish Charlon a speedy recovery.
It is unbelievable to find some comments here are blown out of proportion. The bottom line is that these cowards have already committed a criminal offence and must be punished by law.
Justice be done for Charlon!
Beating up a journalist and terrorizing his wife is horrific, to say the least!
Could it be that one of these "unknown" two, may be our very own future Dumini? With such fears doing the rounds, one wonders who the Matteotti may be!
Is Charlon Gouder a child of a lesser God because he is a Labour Party supporter?
Let justice be done and SEEN to be done when the culprits are apprehanded.
Imagine, just imagine if the victims were the PN Media Exec. and his wife while the perpetrators were PL supporters. Remember the shootout at a PN club during Xmas time and the scuffle at the polling place in Zejtun?
Irrespective whether the perpetrators at Gianpula were PN or PL supporters and likewise the victims, I can’t consider this incident as an act of political violence. Supporters of different saints’ fight between themselves don’t they and we don't call that religious violence do we? My point is that incidents like this, had the victims been PN supporters, the PN would have had a field day and would go as far as putting it on Joseph Muscat’s doorstep. Ghax skond huma skond iz-zokk il fergha.
And this is one of the reasons why their supporters are deserting them.
The police should not rest until they capture these criminals.
I am sure they have ways and means to capture these aggressors. Imagine if it was the Nationalist Media manager who was attacked by labour supporters.
I am sure every 'independent' newspaper would have used the front page to condemn it. Probably an editorial would have been written too. Imagine how the usual apologists of the P.N. who write regular columns would have used this brutal and unprovoked attack to call Labourites 'Hamalli', vjolenti and give them the usual labels.
Since many are assuming that the police would do little or nothing about it, The Labour Party should offer a reward to those who would give information that would lead to the police to arrest them two animals.
reno calleja
Let us stop thinking that physical abuse only hurts the body. Like any abuse, it harms the psyche, and as such, it should be heavily penalised. Primitively minded monsters, who resort to harming another person, because they are stronger physically, have no place amoung the law abiding citizens....
@ The Authorities:
Physical abuse should be harshly punished because it harms both the BODY and MIND.
These Hypocrites, for a better word, are associated this as a political act of violence without knowing all the facts. I hope it is not. Whether it is or not, should be condemned just the same. There should be no room in society to get one's point of view through violence.
Reason and the power of persuasion should win the day.
"Mr Gouder reported that the two men insulted him and the party, before starting to hit him."
Poche parole al buon intenditor.
My conbtribution had more to do with the circumstances, that bring morons to use brute force, than with anything else. I did not mention any poiitical party but then, Mr Martinelli, if you think that the cap fits, wear it.
Mr Gouder's injuries seem to be more serious than what the Times story reported. Again, a speedy recovery to Charlon Gouder.
Perhaps Mr. Aguis was wrong to mention accidents in the 70's as there was no need to do so. Mr. Aguis could have gone back as this past June 6th and as back as last year with the accident in Mqabba. Both accidents we all know were politically motivated.
So please, no hypocrisy, If one is going to condemn violence whether political or not, lets' be consistent.
I find it quite odd that from the names of blogger that I see below, none of them and came out publicly and condemned the accident that happened on June 6th, at Zejtun or the accidents at the Counting hall.
From the story I read nowhere that the accident was politically motivated. Prudence dictate that one should wait for the facts to be all known then to come to a conclusion. As I wrote above, violence should not be accepted in society whether it is of a political nature or not.
let's not use two measures in this issue.
Kuragg Charlot.
Read my comments again. A second wrong does not justify the first.
Then read Joe Grima's comments one more time and convince me that the intended ambiguity did not implicate the NP.
Acts of violence should never be condoned by whomever they are directed at irrespective of political leanings.
Had I intended to take sides regarding this issue, I would have perhaps mentioned the Zejtun incident during the MEP elections and called it even. Enough said.
I am to the Labour born and like the vast majority of the people in my camp would not ever blame Dr.Gonzi and his PN supporters for these violent acts, we condemn the individual perpetrators and their apologists. Drs. Gonzi and Muscat can only lose out of these situations.
Ray, regrettably I can’t agree with you that the Gianpula incident was brought about as a reflection of the intolerance and arrogance of the present administration.
Politics is a battle of wits and the party which treats its opponents as imbeciles loses the battle.
I condemn all violence but let's keep all in its perspective please.....
I look forward to the agrressors beign brought to justice and to know the full story....
I ask,how did you conclude that it was politically motivated? (Just because they mention the LP, it doesn't mean that they were Nationalist, All of Malta knows that Mr.Gouder works with the LP.)
Also why should the Government comment on this incident after all Mr. Gouder is a normal citizen who does not occupy any post in Parliament, he isn't a high ranking official in the LP or within the Government. He occupies the post of media executive with the LP and that's all.
Also we do not know all the details of this article. (why did they insult him, did they have a grudge against him because of personal things etc..)
(I am not a nationalist laborite, supports A.D or AN, I happen to think outside the different form the average Maltese politcal fanatic.)
I wish Mr Gouder a speedy recovery. May Justice prevail and the assailants caught .
Whilst I empathise with Charlon Gouder and his wife, I hope and pray that the culprits are brought to justice in the shortest possible time.
Michael Seychell
Tal-Pieta
YES ZERO TOLERANCE TO VIOLENCE IN ANY FORM
Shame on the thugs who assailed charlon and family! It s simply not fair that in 2009 public figures are beaten up by those who oppose their political views! This is barbaric and shows that even today some people think they are above the law and politically irresponsible. Get well soon charlon u kuragg!
violence should be condemned at all levels of our society.
Get well soon Mr Gouder!
I fully agree with you and also condemn this act. The next time it will be some one affiliated with PN we will say it was the PL supporter/s and vise versa if it had to be again aPL affiliate. Come on let's be serious in our comments.
Hope these people will be caught by the police and will be arraigned as soon as possible.
We cannot tolerate these type of accidents in our country that suppose it is a democratic country.
Charlon keep on doing your good work within the Labour Party and the Media.
Kuraġġ.
Violence, lies and cowardice seem to be the only resort people in power (but not in control!) have in reply to the country's general feeling about official state arrogance!
My last hope is that the Police will not let themselves be part of the staged reactions of omerta` and pseudo-legality that are usually adopted as face-savers and cover-ups in such cases.
OUR COUNTRY DESERVES BETTER!
Solidarity with Charlon Gouder and his family and may the perpetrators heads hang in shame!!!
"Mr Gouder reported that the two men insulted him and the party, before starting to hit him."
This action has to be condemned by all and no excuses.
Whatever our political affiliation nobody can condone such deeds.
And more importantly we all hope that Charlon has a speedy recovery and will be back to work asap.
First of all solidarity to the Gouder couple. Any kind of violence is to be condemned.
But, Mike Pace , either you do not know who Pinochet was ( and that's a bit serious ) or you have a one track mind ( and that's FATAL ) !!
Violent behaviour should be a main concern not only in this case, but wherever violence is perpetrated.
Racism was probably an issue in the latest tragic occurrence in Malta’s Paceville. But it is not the only one that triggers violence, many people are not facing the whole problem.
If we really abhor violence, we should condemn it strongly whoever the victim.
I do not agree about what happened, but no one knows for now who these people are and what was the motive of it. This incident should not be used as a political issue and people are saying in this blog accusing indirectly that they must be PN supporters.
For all we know it could be Chalon who provoked the fight. Whatever happens i hope that those responsible are arrested. Lets not make a political issue out of this incident.
I agree with you Mr. Cini. PN has nothing to do with this incident, like the Labour party had nothing to do with what happened in Mqabba last December and in Zejtun during the EP elections.
My solidarity to Charlon Gouder.
You can apply that to the 60's under PN.
Why do you limit violence in Malta only to the 70s and 80s. Have you forgotten the rampant violence in the 1960s when you couldn't read a Labour newspaper without being condemned, you couldn't be employed unless you had a letter from the village priest declaring that you were of good moral order and that eventually Labourites were "exported" en masse to distant lands while the Nationalist Party and the umbrella faction groups didn't raise one finger in protest? How convenient to say that democrary begins with people like you.
Solidarity with Charlon Gouder and his wife following this sad violent attack.
Does it really matter where this assault took place??
When will this country grow up once and for all???
I am very proud to be Maltese...however this kind of news greatly erodes such pride!!!
Justice for Charlon.
I think that Nikita Zammit Alamango knows that the assault on Mr Gouder happened at Gianpula because in every news update on One radio, they mentioned that the assualt happened at Gianpula.
My solidarity goes to Mr Gouder. We want immediate JUSTICE NOW.
thanks
This and many other fights happens everyday around this island i only hope that not only this case gets investigated but all others cos Charlon is no batter then other citizens of this small island.
Your comments remind me of the saying, 'The pen is mightier than the sword', in which case, if true, your writing is more insidious than the blows which Charlon Gouder received.
I would like to join the vast majority to condemn such an incident without reservation whatsoever and cannot comment on the reason why this incident even took place.
It is quite uncommon for someone to attack another without provocation of some sort be it verbal, written or the use of body language.
No we do not need, nor desire to go back to the 70s and 80s and the police should make an honest effort to apprehend the two assailants and bring them to justice. There ought to have been a number of witnesses and one, possibly, could have taken a picture of the incident using his mobile(?)
Besides knowing Charlon personally, I heard it on the news (radio). However, no i was not present.
While I am at it, my sympathy goes to Mr and Mrs Gouder. One can't help wonder however, how some people come out with guns blazing in defence of a victim coming from the political class, when the same or a more serious accident to a mere mortal hardly attracts any attention.
Ms. Alamango just mentioned the place. Doesn't mean she witnessed the assault on Mr. Gouder, so please be careful how you interpret certain statements.
I would also like to wish Charlon a fast recovery. Keep up the good work.
It's not ethical to comment this way unless you know all that a person's private life, whoever he/she is, is all about.
Needless to say that any act of violence is to be condemned.
Yes, the incident happended at Gianpula, it was confirmed on one of the local radio stations, there's no need for Ms Alamango to go forward to the police, as I'm sure there were hundreds of persons who witnessed the incident and know who the perpatrators are.
Solidarity with Charlon and his wife !
Kuragg Charlon!!
We want JUSTICE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My solidarity to Charlon and his wife
Police hurry up and catch these people and arraign them so that this unfortunate and stupid incident is contained and does not adopt a life of its own causing some sort of ripple effect.
Solidarity to Charlon and his wife!
Stop this violence... it is not the answer!