From Belarus ‘with love’

The retired police officer reported for telling Nationalist MP Mark Anthony Sammut to take his own life is currently living in Belarus, The Shift is informed.

Patrick Attard, 60, wrote beneath a video published on ONE’s Facebook page telling Sammut to go to Hurd’s Bank and “tie a noose around his neck”.

Sammut published a screenshot of the comment and confirmed that he had filed a police report.

The ONE video featured remarks Sammut made about Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg following the acquittal of Yorgen Fenech. When asked whether he would apologise for describing Buttigieg as incompetent, Sammut doubled down, accusing her of pretending to be incompetent and insisting that she should leave office.

Attard is understood to be from Żurrieq. Sources said he moved to Belarus after marrying a Belarusian woman a few years ago, although he occasionally returns to Malta, including to vote.

His current residence and travel patterns could not be independently confirmed at the time of publication.

Attard’s social-media activity displays consistent support for the Labour Party, frequently sharing and repeating messages promoted by Labour politicians, party media and their exponents.

Sammut said Attard had previously been suspended from the police force before being reinstated following Labour’s return to government in 2013.

“These are the types of people the Labour Party wanted in the police corps,” Sammut said, adding that the episode reflected the state in which the country finds itself.

Addressing Attard directly, the MP said the comment would have the opposite of its intended effect.

Rather than taking his own life, Sammut said he would work harder for a Malta “where justice is served and where our children have a future”.