Silence must not be filled with loud, rushed conclusions

An assassination is a statement in itself. But when a journalist, a wife, a mother of three, is assassinated in a cruel car bomb explosion, that statement cannot be translated into words.

There is only silence – deafening silence. A silence that must not be filled with loud, rushed and speculative conclusions, but with realism and honesty. It is in these times that people need leaders.

The perpetrators of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder not only intended to silence her but also to silence the majority of us Maltese citizens who firmly believe in freedom of expression. A freedom that is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention of Human rights, and in our Constitution. Freedom of expression comes with duties and obligations. When these rights and obligations are infringed, the only forum where to seek remedy is the Law Courts. There exists no other forum in a free and democratic society.

Like many others, I heard words like “she was asking for it”, “she used to step on many toes”. Such an argument is offensive to all journalists. Journalism is about stepping on toes and exposing uncomfortable truths. No one should be threatened for doing so. Redress for defamatory articles is sought in court, if an article is exposing the truth then that journalist is doing his/her duty.

Daphne Caruana Galizia’s penmanship was one of a kind. You either liked it or loathed it. I was among the latter. It is no secret that I did not like her style of writing. Daphne’s “stories” varied from well-researched pieces to downright muckraking pieces full of utter fabrications. Her articles could shift from gossip news to propagandistic, used as necessary tools in the hands of Nationalist Party politicians. Sometimes, she exaggerated. I remember when she wrote ‘Glory Glory Alleluia’ as the title of her blog post celebrating Dom Mintoff’s death. I was not a Mintoffian – I was too young to remember him as Prime Minister. Yet I was shocked at the way she expressed her feeling of joy when the former Prime Minister died. Her blog ruined lives, exposed private citizens and sometimes her articles had an innate sense of hatred towards the people she was writing about. She attacked persons with their illnesses and their children’s disabilities. These accusations were not made spontaneously, as she kept repeating them for years. And when she attacked us, our families would be the ones who suffered most. I have witnessed the evolution of many persons who work with me, who have been attacked. First, you could see the sense of despair, and then, eventually, they would develop a tough skin and get on with their lives. We thought that her blog made us stronger. I am saying this out of honesty, because now it is not the time to be a hypocrite. If one read her blog, you would instantly know that Daphne was not impressed by hypocrisy. Being a hypocrite would not do any justice to her.

To my disbelief and the disbelief of many others, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament mentioned a number of issues which Daphne had followed and investigated, but failed to speak about the obvious. During the last three months, Daphne’s allegations were centred on Adrian Delia. These allegations were serious and varied from money laundering derived from a prostitution racket and reports on drug trafficking, to the inability to pay his huge debts and strong links with Freemasons. Delia’s helpers threatened her. That is why his speech came across as fake.

The country is going through a difficult time. Simon Busuttil, the former Leader of the Opposition (who is still the de facto Leader of Opposition judging by his behaviour, comments to the media, and continuous interferences during the Prime Minister’s speech in Parliament), in his usual eternal negative aura in Parliament, emphasised that he wondered if Malta will ever overcome this difficult moment.

I am sure that Malta will move on, not with a sense of disrespect but with the knowledge that an attack on freedom of expression was made, and such an attack cannot defeat us. On the contrary, it will make us stronger. This is the true meaning of the phrase ‘We will not be silenced’.