Overview
- Magistrate Monica Vella found Grech and PMnews journalists Mario Camilleri and Rita Bonnici not guilty on March 4 after a three‑year prosecution.
- Authorities had charged them under Malta’s 2016 Affirmation Act, which outlaws performing or advertising efforts to change or suppress sexual orientation or gender identity and carries fines up to €5,000 or five months in jail.
- The court ruled the state failed to prove the interview amounted to advertising a prohibited practice or that any referenced services fit the statute’s definition.
- The case stemmed from a 2022 PMnews Malta interview about Grech’s ex‑gay testimony, with police complaints reportedly filed by activists including Silvan Agius, Christian Attard and Cynthia Chircop.
- Grech, the Christian Legal Centre and the IFTCC welcomed the ruling as a free‑speech victory, while noting Malta’s conversion‑practices ban remains in force.