Minnesota yesterday secured the conviction of Derek Chauvin a former police officer who killed George Floyd on 25 May 2020.
It was an important trial because the homicide needed to be seen in the context of the relationship between the black community in America and the rest of American society. It was about police brutality, institutionalised racist prejudice and the daily suffering of black people at the hands of the authorities in the US. Justice needed to be seen to be served and an important part of that is that justice is served in a timely fashion.
Malta is nowhere near putting on trial Lorin Scicluna and Francesco Fenech, former soldiers in Malta’s armies who are accused of killing Lassana Cisse Souleymane on 6 April 2019. The soldiers, charged with cold-blooded murder just 5 weeks after the killing have been out on bail since December 2019.
It is important for Malta to see justice in this case. This murder needs to be seen in the context of the relationship between the black community in Malta and the rest of Maltese society. It is about institutionalised racism in our uniformed forces, particularly the army. It is about institutionalised racist prejudice and the daily suffering of black people at the hands of the authorities in Malta. Justice needs to be seen to be served and an important part of that is that justice is served in a timely fashion.
Not in this country it isn’t.
But the government has lain a wreath on the spot where he was killed and offensively given the white privilege the rest of us enjoy, his “memory” was told that “all lives matter”. Pedigree fascists, the lot of them. You’d have to think that the only reason the government laid that wreath was to make a point that they never did it where and when Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed. Just to add insult to injury.