A circus promoter presented an appeal in Court after his request to set up a stall in Floriana was declined.

Johann Said said that he was denied permission to operate from in front of the Granaries in Floriana between December 12 and January 6 without any legal basis.

Mr Said said he had applied for permission last January, and objections had only been raised by Transport Malta in October, due to a new policy that had come into force.

He said that this was unacceptable in a democratic society and was nothing short of a violation of his human rights. He said that these actions had caused him great financial loss, and at no stage of the preparation was he warned that his application could be refused.