Today is the seventh anniversary of the cruel death of a person who spoke the truth. Daphne Caruana Galizia never made herself out to be a saint or perfect, but one element of perfection she certainly possessed: her pen, which she plied as a result of relentlessly researching for the truth. Daphne was direct, she revealed all the deceit and evil that she discovered. She never minced her words, she never wanted to be diplomatic, she wanted to state things exactly as they were.
Why do we gather every month, not to forget? Because we want this truth to continue emerging. We want protection for those courageous journalists who continue to dig and reveal evil, we want an anti-mafia law that truly protects Malta from the rich and deceitful who unscrupulously pillage it, cheat it, and corrupt leaders who are supposed to set the example of honesty and loyalty. By means of this law, any property, lands and goods that have been acquired through deceitful means would be given back to society. We do not want reductions of sentences for these people. When you find time, watch the interview Monique Agius held with Tiberio Bentivoglio, a man who has dedicated his life to fighting the worst mafia, the richest one in the world: the ‘Ndrangheta. He believes that education against the Mafia must start from a young age, and so he goes from school to school speaking to and encouraging the young not to fall for the greed of money and evil.
Today we ask you to be with us tonight, to show that you too, want to eradicate the mafia tentacles that hold our country in their grip. To show that we demand of our politicians, whoever they are, honesty and loyalty, and not lies and cheating. We ask you to walk with us so that together, we can show that those who want truth and justice in our country are a force to be reckoned with, a force that every politician has to take into consideration.
In order to obey the Court decree, we shall not be transmitting tonight’s march and vigil live, so that our speakers can speak freely. We will transmit them after having auto-censored the film, and show the parts that are allowed by the decree. It is therefore very important that you are with us at 7 pm, near the Church of Saint Francis in Republic Street, Valletta. Those who have difficulty in walking can meet us at Daphne’s memorial, in front of the law courts when we walk down to there, where the speeches will be held.
We hope to see you all, and as the Italians say: “L’Unione fa la Forza!”
Vicki Ann Cremona
President