The Transport Malta bomber/s would, of course, never admit it, especially since justice has not yet caught up with them, but they have been defeated by the sole victim of their cowardly act, Major Peter Ripard. Though losing one of his legs, the former army officer who now serves as a traffic consultant made it abundantly clear in his first comments since the December 2 blast he would not be stopped from doing his “unfinished work”.

First indications are the bombers failed to get to their intended target, who seems to have been another TM senior official. Now, the device they so dastardly planted to cause as much damage as possible, including maiming and killing people, has, so to speak, exploded in their own face.

Major Ripard still stands tall. More importantly, the brave manner in which he is facing his new reality is of encouragement to those who end up in the line of fire of bad elements who resort to such obnoxious deeds.

Major Ripard’s message to those serving society in any way – be they civil servants, members of the security forces, the Judiciary, regulators and politicians, to name just a few – is to look ahead. That kind of courage and determination makes everything possible, eliminates fear and sends a clear message to wrongdoers they can never win.

Of course, Major Ripard is not the only shining example in this regard. Police officers, bomb disposal experts and rescuers constantly put their own well-being, even their lives, on the line to serve others. Very rarely do their heroic acts come to the fore and most of the time they are appreciated only by those directly involved in some accident or crime. In their own way, they too are transmitting a message that crime does not pay. Unfortunately, that message is at times distorted by certain decisions taken both at an administrative and, more often, a judicial level.

Amnesties granted by the government, with all good intentions, no doubt, tend to discourage and dampen the enthusiasm of law-abiding citizens to continue giving their share to society.

Society is even more perturbed when the good work of the police to fight crime and take perpetrators to court practically goes down the drain when hardened, well-known criminals are granted bail, thus continuing to be a danger to all. One can rush and point fingers at judges and magistrates, blaming them for this, but it would perhaps be wiser to see what sort of elbow-room the law allows them when dealing with such situations. Of course, human rights must always be upheld – that is the essence of a healthy, thriving democracy where the rule of law prevails – but it needs to be ensured these first and foremost serve society and not criminals.

Yet, the forces of law and order and the courts cannot be allowed to fight crime on their own, unsupported. They need every member of society who can and must be their eyes and ears. Policemen cannot be everywhere all the time and, to find guilt, the courts must have solid, conclusive evidence. On both counts, each and every one of us can have a role to play. The phone line 112 is an ideal and efficient tool to report and prevent crime and any information to the police can be communicated on 119.

The honour the Republic awarded to Major Ripard can be seen as representing the recognition law abiding-citizens who do their part for society rightly deserve.