The Romans had a saying, “De mortuis nil nisi bonum”, that is, you only speak good of the dead. In Malta, we all invariably tend to mention departed ones with sympathy. When Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered I thought this Maltese characteristic would eventually prevail. I thought time would heal the wounds of her pen and that, as a nation, we would find common ground in the collective anger at those who thought it possible to kill a journalist in broad daylight.
I was completely wrong. A year down the line, there is no sign of a collective sentiment grouping us under one flag.
The voices of those insisting on remembering Daphne are countered by others insisting, ridiculously, that no candle or effigy is placed on a war memorial.
The voices of those calling for justice to be seen to be made through police investigation are countered by voices telling us this is one case out of many and that police resources have to be managed accordingly.
The government is not doing its part for us to move on. It is rather acting in the opposite direction, using, treading or, worse, provoking the points of contention dividing one group from the other.
In fact, a year down the line we have her memorial in front of the law courts in Valletta covered with steel and wooden barricades, finished with ministry logos, impeding access to those who want to lay a laurel leaf or a note.
A year down the line we have court litigation on who should and should not appear for the State in the prosecution of this barbaric crime.
A year down the line we have hiccups in the investigation, promoting the magistrate upstairs.
Personally, I only met Daphne a few times. I did not like her style of denigrating Labour chavs or ħamalli.
However, the moment she was killed, I could only see the nobility of her ultimate sacrifice. They killed the most popular and most influential Maltese journalist. They killed a sentinel of our democracy, a protector of freedom of speech.
Her murder is an outrageous injustice to all of us, no matter our stand on her Running Commentary before October 16, 2017.
In the days after Daphne’s assassination, I was tasked to contribute to the speeches of the president of the European Parliament at the European Council and in the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. In both contributions, we cried out loud and clear for justice to be made with the strength of 500 million voices of Europeans represented in the assembly of the peoples of Europe.
Justice is, however, not yet done.
Europe dedicated its beating heart to Daphne Caruana Galizia
We may have a lead on those who pushed the button but no clue yet about the mastermind behind them. Like many readers, I followed the statements of the Justice Minister and our Prime Minister in the past that all is being done for justice to be made.
For as long as justice is not served, the government will not be able to shed the nagging call of the thousands of Maltese and Europeans reminding of that imperative.
In the meanwhile, some of us may decide to give the benefit of the doubt that all that can be done is being done.
And, yet, there is one thing that merits urgent action irrespective of whether justice is served now or in years to come: we, as a Maltese nation, are entitled to national bereavement on her death.
Europe dedicated its beating heart to Daphne. We named the press conference hall in the Strasbourg seat of the European Parliament after her. This is where Josè Barroso, Jean-Claude Juncker and Antonio Tajani announced some of the biggest steps forward for Europe. At the upcoming plenary session, we will again remember Daphne, her life and her struggle.
In Europe, Daphne is indeed honoured as the flag bearer of our values. In Malta, we sweep away harmless candles citing a sub-section of a forgotten code.
The government’s actions together with its tolerance to insiders’ public comments open our wounds wider and deny Daphne, her family, her readers and all the Maltese of goodwill our right of bereavement.
The government now has another occasion to take a clear stance in the highest institution of our country – the Opposition presented a motion to strip Tony Zarb of the Gieħ ir-Repubblika award he was given.
Although he may be deserving of the award for workers’ battles in the past, Zarb has certainly demonstrated an inaptitude to continue to bear that honour when he told us: “Keep placing flowers, you can adore her, but the important thing for our Malta is that she will never be back”.
The government cannot but support the motion of the Opposition on this one.
Any other course of action would be reminiscent of Daniel Massa’s poem Ma rridx nobżoq f’wiċċ ir-Repubblika (I would rather not spit in the face of the Republic).
Peter Agius is a prospective MEP candidate for the Nationalist Party.
This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece