Medialive Casino, named by Florence prosecutors for receiving takings from illegal gaming parlours operated throughout Italy by organised crime, is exhibiting at the Sigma gaming conference convening this week in Ta' Qali. I wrote on Medialive Casino on November 16th after Il Fatto Quotidiano interviewed Giuseppe Creazzo, chief prosecutor in Florence, who expressed frustration the [...]
It is rare for a Magistrate to criticise a lawyer's argument on behalf of their client as "incredible and inconceivable" and a "malicious attempt to avoid responsibility". It is even rarer for this to happen when that lawyer has in the meantime been appointed a Judge. The Times and Malta Today reported a court decision [...]
By resident guest George Farrugia Calleja: The sight of PN Leader Adrian Delia ringing the bell of the Marsa Police Station a couple of weeks ago, with something of a bemused look on his face, was mildly amusing. It also gave rise to some predictable memes, one of which had him ringing the door-bell of [...]
On 19th January, 2017, the directors of Egrant Inc signed off on the dissolution of the company. Naturally the directors are a bunch of Panamian fronts for anonymous owners. They are listed as directors of some 10,000 other companies between them. According to Panamanian company law a company declared dissolved by its directors can continue [...]
So Inspector Elton Taliana arraigns Emmanuel Navarro to accuse him of having threatened Roberta Metsola with burning alive. Emmanuel Navarro, whose relatives are now sending me messages every which way to get me to speak nicely of him, was assisted by, of all people, Peter Paul Zammit. According to The Times Peter Paul Zammit told [...]
Invicta is the first book about Daphne Caruana Galizia to be published since her assassination. The publishers say the book brings together a group of friends, journalists and academics to explore the different aspects of Daphne as a human being and as a journalist. Daphne, though she had a very prominent voice, was paradoxically a [...]
Emmanuel Navarro has been taken into custody while police ‘investigate’ his very public threat to burn Roberta Metsola alive. The man is known to the police. He was, at the time of his arrest, on probation over a domestic violence case. His former son in law forgave him in court for threatening him of beheading [...]
Beyond the prime minister’s bog-standard rhetoric, can anyone perceive any significant effort by the police to bring the killers of Daphne Caruana to justice? We were promised a thorough investigation and all we’ve seen so far is a crime scene left untouched for at least 30 hours while one Magistrate toyed with the emotions of [...]
The prime minister said yesterday "the silent majority" backed him. That is indeed how a Mafia State functions, with the acquiescence of its citizens who perceive a share in the proceeds from the corruption that they imagine, wrongly, turns the wheels of their economy. Silence -- omertà -- is key to the success of organised [...]
Perhaps when they're giving their training program for new women candidates, the Labour Party might hold a module on how to deal with this crap. These screenshots were grabbed by BugM from 19,000 strong Laburisti sal-Mewt group on Facebook that includes President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca. Anyone of those 19,000 willing to say this is [...]
We cannot have another woman in public life demonised and dehumanised for the convenience of the Labour Party until someone decides it is fine to kill her. We cannot allow women to be intimidated from leadership in our community. We need more women to take on a public role because at least part of the [...]
When Labour first came into power in 2013, it introduced a Whistle-blower Act to protect people who speak up and reveal corruption. It looked good at the time and as callous politicians never mind doing, they had no qualms about writing into law what they intended to ignore. When they seek to silence Jonathan Ferris [...]
Joseph Muscat continues to consolidate his grip on power. That power is fed by popular support which, like the crowds cackling around the guillotine, intimidates opposition and resistance. But what strengthens Labour apparently beyond any hint of vulnerability is the fact that there is no formal opposition in front of it to speak of. It [...]
From guest writer George Farrugia Calleja: While walking past the Malta Labour Party club in Republic Street last Thursday evening, commemorating Daphne Caruana Galizia a month after her assassination, a bottom-feeding troll in the balcony grunted loudly enough that “hemm ser jibqa’” (‘he’s [Joseph Muscat] there to stay’). Muscat himself echoed this on Sunday morning, [...]
David Casa spoke yesterday at a civil society event where Romanian veteran civil society activist Monica Macovei spoke about changes brought about in her country by resistance to abuse of power by elected governments. Macovei's speech, her story and the answers to the questions she was asked are full of lessons and I do not [...]
Emmanuel Navarro, bless him, posted in reference to Roberta Metsola's remarks that she should not need to defend herself from the accusation of being a traitor. She argued it is no treason to criticise your government: it is a patriotic duty, particularly when faced with the sort of consequences the exercise of fundamental rights and [...]
This is the company profile on the official website of the Sadeen Group of Jordan, developers of the white elephant that is the 'American University of Malta'. Here's a screenshot: The language is atrocious. A google translation from the original Arabic would have almost certainly been better. It would be unacceptable for your average Middle [...]
I wrote about Michela Spiteri's appointment as arbiter in the Consumer Claims Tribunal. That's not her first iced bun of course. She is also an adjudicator in the Small Claims Tribunal. She had got that job a few days shy of the last general election. Daphne had written about that. Now the breakdown of the [...]
The Italian blogosphere is awash with commentaries about Malta's state of affairs after Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed. The general tone is a sense of vindication. Many Italian commentators are interpreting the bombings as a confirmation of long held suspicion that under the polished sheen of a Maltese paradise lies something more sinister that has [...]
Some newspaper columns are so convoluted, so twisted in their contradictions, that they soar way beyond the reach of any adequate response. Michela Spiteri's piece last Sunday was one such article. Read it if you will and try to explain to me why she "agreed 100%" with lawyers protesting against the push back of migrants [...]