Minister Anton Refalo’s pathetic performance when questioned by Italian journalists about what he knows regarding Totò Riina’s visits to a property he owns raises more questions than those he chose to avoid.
When presented with the name of Riina, the most powerful Sicilian mafia boss in modern history, Minister Refalo replied: “I don’t know who he is.” Anyone wishing to understand the meaning of the word omertà need look no further than this astonishing moment.
The collective defence being mounted in favour of Minister Refalo is that his critics fail to mention that Totò Riina was alive and likely a regular visitor to Gozo at a time when Malta was governed by the Nationalist Party.
If Malta was indeed a refuge for mafia figures, there is no excuse for avoiding this historical reality. We must confront it and learn from it.
But the fact that a government minister today feels he does not need to answer journalists’ questions about whether a property he owns served as a refuge for the most powerful mafia boss, and what he knows about this, because, in his own words, “it’s none of my business,” is not a matter of history. It is a present reality.
The culture of “none of my business” is the very omertà that empowers the mafia. Indifference is complicity. And when such indifference comes from those in positions of public leadership, like Anton Refalo, it helps the mafia thrive. These may be historical facts, but denouncing them must be an act in the present. Saying “none of my business” today strengthens the mafia.
Riina killed and ordered the killing of hundreds of people, including state officials whose duty it was to uphold justice. The fact that a minister of our government “does not know who Totò Riina is” is reason enough for him to leave politics and return to school to learn something. Before doing so, he should publish the contract under which he acquired the house in Qala, the subject of this journalistic investigation, so that we may come closer to understanding who helped Riina find shelter in our country.