The prosecution of the ministers and senior government officials who allegedly bribed, of the “businessmen” who allegedly bribed them, and of the “professionals” who allegedly organized one of the biggest robberies ever committed at the expense of ordinary Maltese citizens has finally begun.
All the accused persons say they are not guilty.
The scandal has been with us since February 2016 when Daphne Caruana Galizia first reported on it. We have known about this serious crime for nine whole years. Nine years ago, the police did nothing because they did not want to bother people with political power and large financial resources.
In July 2017 – after 17 months of waiting for the police to do something – then Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil went to court and requested that a magisterial inquiry be opened.
It was only in September 2018 – 31 months after the revelations made by Daphne Caruana Galizia – that the police decided to request a magistrate to open an inquiry. We recall that before an inquiry begins, evidence that can then be used in the prosecution of someone cannot be collected and that all that lost time is a disadvantage to the state’s ability to catch criminals.
We wish courage to the prosecutors and judges who will be working on this case.
At the same time, we recall that although it is our right to insist that state institutions always do their job and that the police should not hesitate to investigate and accuse criminals because they have political power or because they have a lot of money, it is our duty that when institutions fail, we use all the means given to us by law to ensure that justice is still done. In this case, the law gave citizens of good will the right to request a magisterial inquiry when the police did not request one.
That is why we reiterate that with the new law that the government wants to enact, it would not have been possible for this prosecution to take place.
The government would be wrong in depriving us of a right that is evidently an important tool for the law to rule in our country and not the bullies who were brought to court today. We will be reminding the government of our objection in a protest in Valletta on Sunday 16 February 2025 at 4pm. We urge all citizens of good will to join us.