We would like to announce that Indymedia Malta will transfer all of its operations to www.realtamadwarek.org
and hence no more content will be uploaded on this website. However there has been a lot of interesting and well-research content which has been uploaded on Indymedia and thus the website will remain online for archival purposes.

Indymedia Malta started out five years ago and its operations had grown ever since. The transfer of operations is thus being made so as to concentrate all our resources on one project which has similar aims to those of Indymedia rather to have our resources divided between two very similar projects.

Indymedia international had started out as a huge independent, journalist network and its operations are spread worldwide. The Maltese Indymedia kicked off in 2005 and immediately became a successful project. But now it is time to move on to a bigger project and that is Ir-Realta'...

We can see stars shine only during the night, as light makes it impossible to view them. Likewise, the Nationalist Party in Office is only reluctant to declare its belief in a theocratic state when the Pope arrives in Malta for an official visit. If the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister would have declared that our society should be based on Catholic values, as they did prior to the Pope's arrival, during a national debate on divorce, or during a time when citizens are being taken to court for ''offending religious sentiment'' or for ''offending public morals'' a national controversy would have been stirred. However the Pope seems to have the power to justify such statements simply by his presence.

Today Malta celebrates its 31st 'lucky' anniversary of the closure of the British military base. Every year a ceremony takes place in commemoration of this event, at the Freedom Monument in Vittoriosa.

During the ceremony members of Moviment Graffitti held up large pictures of children who have been injured and deformed during wars in protest against foreign warships in Maltese harbours. "We strongly oppose the presence of warships from whichever country or affiliation, because this is making us direct accomplices" said a spokesperson from MG, "and this goes against Malta's constitution where it clearly states that Malta has a neutral position."

MG is hoping that this year the new President, George Abela, might be more considerate in putting a stop to the warships that are continuously being hosted in Malta. They presented him with a letter which asks President Abela to state clearly his position with regards to this issue.

As soon as the police realised that Alex Vella Gera was in the Courts to give his witness in the case Police against Editor of Ir-Realta', Mark Camilleri, ordered him to wait for him after the court session,so as to ask him to be interrogated. Alex Vella Gera came to testify on the request of the Defense. He co-operated fully with the police and was interrogated by Inspector Jesmond Micallef. The police have filed criminal charges against Alex Vella Gera for writing a story about a fictional character with a sexist attitude, called Li Tkisser Sewwi, which was published in the 8th issue of Ir-Realta'.

Last week thousands of people gathered in Valletta to protest against the hefty rises in utility tariffs. The protest was organized by Ghaqda Unions Maltin but the Union Haddiema Maghqudin, alongside with the Government and the conservative press, were very vocal against the demonstration. Just a week after the protest the UHM is boasting about the fact that five members of the Malta Union of Teachers have joined UHM because of their disapproval how the issue of the utility tariffs was handled by the MUT leadership. However MUT replied that it was compensated with five new members.

A crowd of about 300 people, gathered in Valletta on the 24th of February to march down Republic Street in protest regarding acts of censorship in Malta. The national demonstration was organised by Front Against Censorship, which was formed after an unusual number of incidents involving censorship took place during the year 2009.

The Front Against Censorship would like to applaud the efforts of Minister Dolores Cristina for ordering the creation of a draft document which would reform censorship laws. The Front hopes that this draft document will be accepted by the Cabinet and also by the Opposition. The Front would also like to applaud Owen Bonnici who will in the near future present a bill to parliament to abolish censorship on film and theatre. We also hope that this bill will be approved by all members of parliament.

This morning a group of volunteers from a number of non-governmental organisations set up a wire-fence and a few tents at the City Gate, Valletta, where they held a press conference to raise awareness about the hundreds of people who are currently being held in detention centres.

Yesterday evening about four-hundred people have attended a protest against an Animal Circus which is being held at Blata l-Bajda. The Circus Animal Rights Coalition is a movement composed of different animal welfare organisations and NGOs which is pressuring the government to ban Animal Circuses in Malta. The coalition was first established in 2006.

Despite the heavy rain, at least 100 students have gathered at the quadrangle to show their discontent towards censorship at University. This was the first activity of the Front Against Censorship which was founded by Ir-Realta' Collective after issue 8 of Ir-Realta' was banned from the University's premises. Other acts of censorship at the radio station of the University of Malta, Campus FM, take place frequently.