We remind Prime Minister Robert Abela that a free civil society with a strong and critical role in the life of the country is an essential element of democracy. That is why the Prime Minister must stop the ongoing assault on civil society.
1. We condemn Robert Abela’s remarks describing The Shift News as a “force of darkness”, a “fake news blog” where “90% of what they say is fake news”. These accusations have no basis in reality. This is a deliberate lie to discredit free journalism, particularly journalism focused on corruption in public administration. When this lie comes from a prime minister, this speech is not simple slander. This is an act of oppression, of threats, and of censorship.
2. We condemn the remarks of Robert Abela who called requests by private citizens for magisterial inquiries an “abuse” and an “inquisition”. The Prime Minister is saying that there are no safeguards for persons accused in requests for magisterial inquiries, which is a statement without any basis in reality. Not only are there many safeguards, but we have safeguards that are far beyond what is considered normal in countries where the rule of law prevails. Already in the law that we have there is the somewhat absurd principle that a person indicated to have committed a crime has the right to object to being investigated. We recall that no magisterial inquiry can find someone guilty of any crime. It can only collect evidence that can be used in the prosecution of someone where then there are all the normal safeguards that apply even when the prosecution is initiated by the police or the prosecutor. We recall that any citizen can request an inquiry, but only a magistrate can decide to hold an inquiry and only if all the requirements of the law are met. Robert Abela is lying to discredit the normal process of justice.
3. Prime Minister Robert Abela is seeking to discredit magisterial inquiries simply because they are initiated on the basis of evidence published by journalists. The recent history of our country shows that journalists have published evidence of corruption when for years the responsible institutions of the country refused to investigate that evidence. Without the investigations of journalists, we would not have had the inquiry and subsequently the prosecution of corruption in the hospitals deal. Without the investigations of journalists, the evidence of corruption that emerged from the Panama Papers would have remained buried. The investigations of journalists alone are not enough to convict someone. But where they are sufficient to justify an investigation by state institutions, the state should investigate them.
4. We condemn the secrecy with which the government is moving to change the law on magisterial inquiries. As the European Commission has repeatedly recalled in its annual report on the rule of law in Malta, the participation of civil society in the shaping of laws is necessary in a democracy. The government should publish in a White Paper the changes it wants to make before going to Parliament and listen in an open dialogue to the views of the public especially because the government is proposing to weaken a right that honest citizens currently have.