MEMORANDUM
To: Ambassadors and Heads of Mission accredited to Malta
From: President, Repubblika
Date: 10 March 2021
Re: Legal bid by the government of Malta to abolish Repubblika
Excellencies:
We are attaching for your attention an exchange of correspondence we have had with the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations.
You will note that we have been charged and convicted of financial wrongdoing and overspending and of serving the interests of political parties. We vehemently deny all these charges even as we underline the fact that we have been given no opportunity to present arguments in our defence.
The Commissioner, acting, we believe, on the instructions of the government, specifically refers us to his authority at law to delist Repubblika as a civil society organisation. Such an action would render our activities illegal. Specifically the action of raising any funds to finance our activities, whether from public donations or from public or private funding programs, would be a criminal act for which we would be personally liable.
The government has provided no evidence whatsoever to back the accusation of financial wrongdoing or overspending. Indeed that is because there can be no such evidence.
The evidence supporting the charge that Repubblika works for a political party amounts to a set of articles written in the press by officials of Repubblika that express strongly-held views about the erosion of the rule of law and the infiltration of organised crime in Malta. The Commissioner also presents as evidence for his case that we serve the interests of a political party and are therefore ineligible for the status of an NGO, the fact that we have made (published) submissions to the inquiry into the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Repubblika was formally constituted on 25 January 2019 in terms of the Voluntary Organisations Act (Cap. 492 of the Laws of Malta) “to promote civil rights, democratic life, the rule of law, free speech, personal freedoms, social inclusion, environmental conservation, economic sustainability and equality of access, by means of active participation in the national discourse and related educational, social and charitable initiatives.”
Our statute was reviewed and approved at the time of inception by the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations. Our finances were periodically reviewed by auditors appointed by the Commissioner and no adverse comments were made.
However, Repubblika has been a leading voice in Malta campaigning for justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia and for the lifting of the veil of impunity that protects people belonging to or serving the interests of the mafia from facing justice for their actions. Our campaign inevitably requires us to challenge the capture of our state institutions including, prominently, the executive branch.
The government’s evident intent to suppress our activities, our right to associate and to express our views is another outrage on democracy in Malta and the continued erosion of civil liberties in this country.
We ask you to inform your capitals of what is happening in Malta and to urge the Maltese authorities at every opportunity available to you to respect fundamental freedoms of association and expression and to give civil society the space to have a role in a national effort to overcome corruption and organised crime.
We assure you as we have assured the Maltese authorities that this act of suppression will not slow down our efforts and that we will defy any action intended to prevent us from exercising our fundamental rights and fulfilling our duties as conscientious citizens of democracy with no interest beyond the desire to preserve democracy and human rights.
We are also at your disposal to answer any questions you may have.
Robert Aquilina