It really had nothing to do with whether the Daphne Caruana Galizia billboards had a permit or not, or with freedom of expression. The Planning Authority, notorious for not enforcing anything at all, stepped into very dangerous grounds on Friday evening, at its master’s bidding, no doubt. Just as Occupy Justice was in Valletta holding a vigil to Ms Caruana Galizia, four months after her murder, the Labour government moved, clearly learning nothing from the past week’s events.

The placing of the photos of political murder victims Karen Grech and Raymond Caruana, and, incredibly, of Dom Mintoff, on Ms Caruana Galizia’s makeshift memorial in front of the law courts, was a provocation that did not work. The organisers were too clever to fall for such pathetic tricks. They know the two victims of unsolved crimes deserve a memorial, even if their murder was not planned, in sharp contrast with Ms Caruana Galizia’s.

The photo of Mr Mintoff, for whom Ms Caruana Galizia only held disdain, was a provocation of the cheapest sort. This apparently socialist government was to set up a monument to him but never got around doing it. Instead, it took to selling the power plant and to privatising State hospitals, anathema to Mr Mintoff, who conveniently, is not around to tell them.

There was another cheap ploy, when a Valletta Labour councillor tried to get the memorial removed, only to be told that a permanent memorial to Ms Caruana Galizia is in the offing. In the end, the mayor had to point out that the local council had no remit on the matter.

Friday saw the government move against Ms Caruana Galizia’s strong-willed supporters with the force of law – the very dysfunctional planning laws that are ruining the country and also helping some mavericks line their pockets handsomely overnight.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat should have learnt his lesson that day he welcomed a delegation from Occupy Justice to his office. They did not want discussions or photo shoots. They had their demands and wanted action. They did not compromise on values.

Clearly, the civil society which turned up for the vigil are becoming a thorn in the government’s side, dashing hopes that the murder of Ms Caruana Galizia will fade. The arraignment of the three alleged hitmen did not quiet anything down. Inversely, the people now want to know who sent them. The demand is becoming more urgent with each passing day.

Whoever commissioned the murder had either not anticipated this sort of reaction or could not care less. The Nationalist Party was down and out when the murder was done, except that Ms Caruana Galizia was not the PN. The people at the Valletta vigil were not PN flag-waving diehards. They want justice because someone of their own, who spoke for them without fear, has been murdered.

The government’s antics do not help, most especially if they come across as a warning of retribution to businesses providing a service to civil society, as Occupy Justice see it. That tactic worked to some extent under Labour’s centralised government in the 1980s. It no longer does. It provokes revulsion and brings more people forward.

The Labour Party should have learnt from its inglorious recent history that its oppressive methods bring defiance from a civil society that will not go quietly into the night.

This is a Times of Malta print editorial