Repubblika u #occupyjustice qed ifakkru s-seba’ sena mill-mewt ta’ Daphne Caruana Galizia, ġurnalista li ħadmet kontra l-korruzzjoni u l-kriminalità organizzata.
Waqt l-attivitajiet ta’ din is-sena Repubblika se tinawgura Strateġija u Manifest kontra l-korruzzjoni intitolat “Niddefendu l-Integrità”. Ser jiġi inawgurat ukoll dokumentarju ġdid, xogħol il-ġurnalisti Julian Delia u Michael Kaden bit-titlu “Untangling the Mafia State”.
L-attivitajiet jilħqu l-qofol tagħhom nhar l-Erbgħa, 16 ta’ Ottubru, b’Ġabra Silenzjuża fil-Bidnija fil-ħin u fil-post tal-mewt ta’ Daphne Caruana Galizia, u fil-għaxija fil-Belt Valletta, dimostrazzjoni li tibda biswit il-Parlament u tispiċċa bil-velja f’Misraħ l-Assedju l-Kbir.
Fil-velja se jintervjenu Françoise Laborde, ġurnalista prominenti tat-televiżjoni Franċiża u attivista għad-drittijiet tan-nisa u l-minoranzi u Tiberio Bentivoglio, negozjant Taljan li rrifjuta li jikkolabora mal-mafja, safa mhedded, għex wara attentat fuq ħajtu, u li jaħdem kontra l-kriminalità organizzata.
Il-President ta’ Repubblika Vicki Ann Cremona qalet li “għada ma saritx ġustizzja ma’ Daphne Caruana Galizia u sakemm din isseħħ aħna fid-dmir li ninsistu li ssir. Wisq anqas saret ġustizzja ma’ pajjiżna li għadu jbati l-konsegwenzi tal-korruzzjoni li Daphne kixfet. Hu dmir tagħna l-Maltin li flimkien insibu l-mod kif nerfgħu r-responsabbiltà għall-agħar ħażen li twettaq f’pajjiżna, biex nitgħallmu minnu u nibnu għal uliedna pajjiż li jrid is-sewwa.”
F’isem #occupyjustice, Louiselle Vassallo qalet li “l-ġustizzja hi dmirna lkoll. Daphne ma stennietx biss lill-awtoritajiet biex jagħmlu s-sewwa. Ma ħaslitx idejha bl-indifferenza meta l-korrotti u l-kriminali ħatfu l-poter. Minflok kixfithom u sfidathom b’riskju kbir għaliha. L-eżempju tagħha jkaxkarna. U dmirna nfakkru l-eżempju tagħha waqt li niġġieldu biex issir ġustizzja magħha u ma’ Malta.”
L-organizzaturi qed jagħmlu appell lill-pubbliku biex jieħu sehem f’dawn l-attivitajiet ta’ tifkira u jgħinu biex jitħallsu l-ispejjeż biex jittellgħu billi jagħtu donazzjoni fuq is-sit ta’ crowdfunding fundrazr.com/Daphne-7Years.
Born in Bordeaux, Françoise Laborde worked as a journalist from 1979-2009.
Following her Masters Degree, she obtained her pre-Doctoral Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies (DEA) in Business law from the University of Bordeaux. She started her career in Belgium working for the press, then moved to Paris to work for Radio Monte Carlo (RMC). As from 1986, she joined French National television and has worked on different news channels: TF1, later France3 and France 2 /France 5.
She presents the 8 pm news on weekends and for ten years conducted political interviews on the morning programme “4 Vérités” on France 2 TV channel.
She was a member of the national media regulator: the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel (the Higher Council for Audiovisual media) between 2009-2015.
She was a member of the Haut Conseil à l’égalité femmes/hommes (the Higher Council for female/male equality) between 2015-2018.
Françoise Laborde has taken up different roles as an activist for causes related to women and minorities.
In 2011, she founded the organisation “Pour les Femmes dans les Médias” (For Women in the Media) which groups women managers in French media.
Between 2010-16, she was vice-president of the “Refuge” association which helps LGBT youth who are thrown out of their homes because of their sexual orientations.
In 2018, she rallied the media on the issue of child violence. She launched a petition and published an investigation titled: “The Massacre of the Innocents, the forgotten of the Republic”, with Michèle Creoff, the vice-president of the National Council for the protection of Children.
She has written a dozen books on family.
She has been decorated as Chevalier dans l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur and Officier du Mérite Agricole.
She is married and has two boys.
In 1979, in Reggio Calabria, we started an economic enterprise with the name of Sanitaria S.Elia, offering products for the care of early infancy.
14.03.1992: A mafioso makes contact with us, requesting, for the first time, extortion money. We decided to denounce this and report the case. Our “no” to the Ndrangheta is followed by the first retaliatory action, a robbery on the 10th of July 1992.
13.07.1998: After a number of demands for extortion money, another retaliatory action, in the form of another robbery in our stores, followed by an arson on a van on the 4th December 1998.
05.04.2004: A powerful bomb destroys our beautiful shop, and we start with the first legal action, whereby we present ourselves as parte civile in the proceedings. But our decision continues to bother the criminals, and subsequently, we received threatening phone calls and deeply disturbing anonymous letters. These had a devastating effect on us psychologically. Notwithstanding, we persevere in our decision and attend all the court sessions of those cases in which we were accepted as parte civile.
13.04.2004: A large scale arson completely destroys our economic activity, with all the products destroyed or irreparably damaged. However, still strong in our resolve not to give up, we restart from zero, with the help of family and friends.
24.06.2005: We receive an anonymous threatening phone call.
08.07.2005: We receive a seriously threatening anonymous letter, requesting extortion money.
23.05.2006: Another disturbingly threatening anonymous letter.
29.06.2006: A threatening phone call made to one of our employees.
06.07.2007: A letter mentioning usury.
09.08.2007: I make another report on a priest, who is accused in court and found guilty.
16.11.2007: I make another report, this time after receiving bullets in the mail.
25.12.2007: A panettone is sent to me with a note “ Auguri Sbirro (cop)”.
08.05.2008: Another threatening letter.
We receive compensation, due under the effects of legge 44/49, after 3 or 4 years. This made us be late with all our payments to our creditors, starting a period of extreme economical hardship, making it also impossible for us to pay our rent. Our vast client base had dissolved, and our decision to denounce the extortion racket, resulted in finding ourselves totally isolated.
Our calls for help from the institutions, remained unanswered. Only promises, and lip service, but nothing concrete.
We could not pay the social security contributions of our employees, and the State sequesters our house, and already were sensing that the house was going to be sold by auction. We are forced to dismiss all our employees, but we could not give them their dismissal benefits (we would give them this in monthly instalments later). The requests from our creditors are now countless. And we are disqualified from participating in public procurement tenders adjudicating. We are disabled from carrying on with our activity (we still are), and we are evicted from the premises, which are put for sale.
13.06.2008: A large store containing our products, is set on fire.
14.10.2010: I report for perjury which has occurred during one of the court proceedings
09.02.2011: Someone attempts to kill me. Someone shot me 6 times with a calibre 7,65 pistol. I survived, because I was protected from a leather shoulder-bag I was carrying. One of the bullets was found embedded in one of my wallets in the same bag.
Since then I live with a constant personal security protection.
The investigation started, but because of insufficient evidence, the case is closed after three years of proceedings.
05.04.2012: I receive a burnt copy of the first book I published, with a note saying “targeted… for now”
17.04.2014: My personal security agents find, hanging from the gate of my orchard, a plastic bag containing a sausages and a threatening letter.
2015: Discouraged, we make a request, for a state-confiscated property, but we are not given this in free concession, because the legge 109,1996 does not contemplate such requests.
Finally, we identify a suitable premises, for which we needed to pay exorbitant rent fees, and which needed extensive refurbishment. In desperation we accept the offer.
28.02.2016: Our request for a state-confiscated property, does not go down well with the mobsters, in such a way, that, during the refurbishment works in our shop, we suffered yet another arson attack in our stores, containing the products waiting for despatch to our renovated shop.
09.09.2016: We make another report for calumny against another mobster.
10.05.2017: Yet another report against another mobster, in view of serious threats made to me , in the presence of my military personal security.
July 2020: In the courtyard of my shop, I find a plastic container full of petrol.
03.10.2020: My bodyguards find on the same spot were I had been shot, in front of the gate of our orchard, a gas cylinder attached to a detonating fuse.
August 2021: I receive an anonymous threatening letter with a blood-soaked handkerchief.
16.06.2022: Our summer residence is forced open, and a lighter is left on main door.