The road to hell, they say, is paved with good intentions. So, it seems, can be the way to the suppression of human rights.
“We have a strong democracy and we want to make it stronger. Thepresent administration has spearheaded a number of legislative initiatives that were aimed at enhancing freedom of expression.”
That was Justice Minister Owen Bonnici writing in The Sunday Times of Malta last February in connection with the Media and Defamation Bill.
Given the developments of the past days, Dr Bonnici can tell that to the marines or, rather, to the Prime Minister and his chief of staff.
On Thursday, the Prime Minister’s top aide, Keith Schembri, filed a criminal complaint, formally asking the police to arraign outgoing Opposition leader Simon Busuttil and charge him with perjury, making a false report and calumny.
The following day, the government’s head of communications, Kurt Farrugia, wrote a Talking Point on this newspaper saying, among other things, that “no one will shed tears for Busuttil’s departure”.
Was this pure coincidence or was the whole thing orchestrated from the Office of the Prime Minister, where both men work? People will give different replies, depending on which side of the fence they sit.
However, those who, like this newspaper, most independent media and well-meaning people of all political shades, believe in the rule of law and democracy, can only deem these latest developments as a direct attack on human rights, more specifically the right of freedom of expression.
These latest moves do not even make sense politically. Dr Busuttil has decided to step down and, come September, he will have very little, if any, influence on the leadership of the Nationalist Party. So why risk so much politically? Is it a matter of personal animosity or a symptom of the big-headedness of some elements within Labour, following the second successive huge electoral victory?
Yet, the biggest threat is, of course, to human rights. The leader of the Opposition has every right, indeed, the duty, to speak up if he feels things are not working as they should. He would be failing if he does not keep the government on its toes.
And that is exactly what Dr Busuttil has done. He asked the Magistrates’ Court to open a criminal investigation after it emerged that Mr Schembri and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi set up companies in Panama. The allegations that followed are now part of recent political history but there is nothing wrong in investigating to establish what is fact and what is fiction. Indeed, Mr Schembri, who insists he has nothing to hide and that everything was above board, should be thankful to Dr Busuttil for pressing for an inquiry that would set the record straight.
Why Mr Schembri opted to go to the police – conduct unbecoming from such a top official of a supposedly democratic country – can only fuel further speculation.
His line of action, which most will view as an attempt to silence Dr Busuttil and a warning to like-minded, law-abiding people and institutions, becomes even more worrying in view of the government’s proposal to remove parliamentary privilege.
Far from being a “great week for politics”, as Mr Farrugia titled his piece on this newspaper, these were two very bad days for democracy.