#Occupyjustice is not a political party, neither an NGO nor a formal organisation. We are, simply, a group of people, led by women from all walks of life. Most of us did not even know each other before we met three weeks ago on an unusual campsite: Castille Square, in front of the office of the Prime Minister.
The seed for #occupyjustice was sown on October 16 at 3pm; the very moment that the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated. Most of us did not know her, but each one of us was horrified. On a human level, we kept picturing Daphne’s son rushing out to find his mother blown to pieces. On a political level, we were aware that was the same journalist who had exposed the Panama Papers among many other scandals and other wrongdoings of public figures in the public sphere.
One question kept haunting us: are we not living in a Western democracy, in the EU: how could this happen?
The following week, we watched the debate in Parliament where the government refused to debate the Opposition’s motion on the murder of Ms Caruana Galizia. In the same debate, the Opposition stood there, discussing the Budget, rather than walking out in defiance. The least expected of a strong Opposition would have, in fact, been to walk out and only return when the motion was to be debated. Nothing should have preceded this item on Parliament’s agenda.
At this point we became increasingly aware that neither the government nor the Opposition were going to defend us, the man and woman in the street. That for them it was simply a case of business as usual. And that is when #occupyjustice was born.
We knew there and then that we simply could not carry on with our lives as though nothing had happened, that this was NOT business as usual. Life could never be the same, and if we were to let it be the same, then our country would keep on rotting. What do we do? We felt helpless and hopeless, but we had to do something.
In the meantime, we watched with increasing horror as the authorities failed to spring into action. The Prime Minister spoke about “unity” while a mayor, a policeman and a bomb disposal expert openly rejoiced that a woman had been blown to smithereens. Subsequently, the Prime Minister publicly declared that he had called in the FBI, specifically to assist in the investigation, only to learn that the FBI’s trip to Malta had actually been planned weeks previously for an unrelated assignment.
We want to show them that ethics, principles and civil responsibilities are more important than making money
The pitiful state of the rule of law became even more evident as we watched the Police Commissioner give a grossly substandard press conference, redolent with distinct Third-World characteristics, to local and foreign press. The Commissioner and Attorney General, had already and on several occasions shown by their inaction that they are but mere puppets of the government.
Our sense of helplessness slowly turned into one of determination. One of us suggested that we stage a protest outside Castille to show the Prime Minister our anguish and our anger. That friend passed on the idea to another, and in few hours the idea went viral, and so we all went to Castille – unsure, uncertain. Would people actually turn up? Yes they did. In droves.
There is no leader among us, no public relations person, no president or chairperson. None of us are involved in partisan politics. There is no one individual who runs the show – we are a collective. We do not have specific tasks and roles. One day one of us is a spokesperson, the next day someone else is.
We all have families and we all work. We are well aware of the risks we are taking. Showing our faces on camera these days often means you’ll be slapped with a transfer, or that some form of revenge would be exacted on you. While the Prime Minister talks on camera about “unity”, his aides attack, insult and denigrate us. They have already identified individuals among us, isolated them and tried humiliating them in an attempt to intimidate us, to silence us. Yet we soldier on because we believe that if we sat home in silence, our society will keep on decaying until it is too late to save it.
We are united by one factor. We have had enough of a political system that allows politicians and those in authority to act with impunity. They are accountable to us. They are meant to serve us. We want to live in a fair and equitable society where our institutions function properly without favour.
We do not want our Members of Parliament to be money launderers, to have secret accounts in Panama, or to avoid paying their taxes. We want them to lead by example. We want the rule of law to function properly; we want proper checks and balances; we want those in office to be appointed because of their competences and abilities, and to act as is expected of them as leaders in a democratic society. That is why we cannot accept a police chief and AG who look away rather than do their jobs.
Last Thursday, a month to the day of Ms Caruana Galizia’s assassination, a bay leaf plant was left on the steps of Castille by #occupyjustice representatives, reminding the Prime Minister, that a month on, no action had been taken on our demands for justice. And we say again to him: “He who does not want to know is a fool. He who does not do anything is a coward. He who knows and does nothing is an accomplice.”
As #occupyjustice, we want to instil basic values in our children. We want to show them that ethics, principles and civil responsibilities are more important than making money. We want them to be able to understand the difference between right and wrong, to learn that voting for a party does not mean that you cannot criticise it or challenge it, nor do you lose the right to disagree with issues that such a party may support.
This is our nation, this is our home and we are the people. We deserve better, we expect better, we demand better.
Editor’s note: The persons behind this article are known to this newspaper.
occupyjusticemalta@gmail.com