See, speak, hear no evil
Activists gathered in front of Castille in Valletta yesterday, to protest against the government, using cut-outs of monkeys to lambast how the Cabinet of ministers has stayed silent in the face of abuses within the government.
Activists gathered in front of Castille in Valletta on Wednesday to protest against the government, using cut-outs of monkeys to lambast how the cabinet of ministers stayed silent in the face of abuses.
The protest, coinciding with the 35th month since Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed, saw protestors gather in a socially distanced protest outside the office of the Prime Minister in Castille Square.
Two years after the assassination of independent journalist Caruana Glaizia, a public inquiry was launched with a 9month deadline, however this timeframe was cut short due to courts closing down when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. Once these restrictions were lifted, the inquiry resumed.
On 2 September, Prime Minister Robert Abela wrote to the state-appointed public inquiry board saying that he is granting a one-time deadline extension to 15 December 2020 for the public inquiry to come to a close.
During the protest, Repubblika’s Robert Aquilina said that it is unacceptable that Prime Minister Abela and his Cabinet continue to wash their hands of the collective responsibility they have after continuing to support the likes of Joseph Muscat, Konrad Mizzi and Chris Cardona.
“Without the support of Robert Abela and his ministers, the government would not have been bound to Electrogas; they would not have tied a whole country to a contract that we didn’t need in the first place and which we are paying for through higher electricity bills,” Aquilina said.
Now, Robert Abela wants to stop the independent inquiry, which is revealing a lot from what his ministers kept hidden, he added, saying that Abela is leading a monkey government that shuts their mouths, eyes and ears so as not to see or hear anything, while seizing power.
Repubblika believes that Abela wants a whole country of monkeys who close their eyes, ears and mouths by silencing the public inquiry so that no one knows the truth; “because he knows that without truth we can never have justice. And without justice, he and his friends will not get blasted for looking the other way.”
“We will not turn our faces away,” Aquilina said, “for three years we have been taking to the streets and insisting on justice. We will not give up now just because Robert Abela is tired of listening to the atrocities the government has committed and he has been an accomplice to.”
Yesterday marked 35 months since Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed, he noted, 35 months of campaigning to bring justice to her and her family – “we are still far from our goal.”