Decision to dismantle Daphne memorial ‘was not taken out of pique’, Bonnici insists

Education Minister Owen Bonnici said on Friday morning that the decision to dismantle the memorial dedicated to Daphne Caruana Galizia every month was not taken out of pique.

Speaking to journalists during a school visit, the former justice minister said the government took decisions in a collegial manner but rejected the idea that the clearing out of the monument was government policy.

On Thursday, a Constitutional Court found that the government had breached the right to freedom of expression of activists who placed candles and flowers at the foot of the Great Siege monument during their monthly vigils. Civil Society groups have called for Bonnici’s resignation.

“Some people have said that the clearing of the monument was done out of some sense of pique. I can assure you that this is not the case,” Bonnici said.

He insisted that his interest was the upkeep of the monument and that it remains a monument for all

Maltese. “At this stage the most important thing is to strive for national unity. I did my best for this to happen.”

Bonnici said there had been moments of tension, and some people had also been taken to hospital over arguments arising from the use of the monument by activists.

Asked whether he could have instigated those tensions himself by ordering the clearing out of the memorial, Bonnici replied that he had sat down with the Caruana

Galizia family to come to an agreement on the public inquiry into her murder. “I did all that I did to try and bring this country closer together,” he insisted.

Asked if he felt uncomfortable about having been found guilty of breaching a fundamental human right, Bonnici said this was a matter of controversy and there are institutions that resolve these issues.

Bonnici said he respected the court judgment but noted that the court had, in this case, limited the right of the protestors in order for the monument to be safeguarded.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Robert Abela told The Malta Independent that he had given clear instructions for the memorial not to be dismantled after the vigil.

Abela said on Thursday that he had never been consulted about the matter during his time as adviser to former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

The government said it will not be appealing the court’s decision.