And inevitably someone brings pictures of Karin Grech and Raymond Caruana to the Daphne Caruana Galizia memorial in Republic Street. I see the point of those who did that of course. The two cases demand justice. Unlike Daphne Caruana Galizia, neither one of them was specifically targeted. But this is not a pantheon to rank victims of crime by order of gravity.
Karin Grech and Raymond Caruana represent a message that is consistent with a demand for justice and reflect the spontaneity of the protest location demanding justice.
Also inevitably someone brings a picture of Dom Mintoff who died peacefully in his sleep, in his old age and of natural causes. There was never a suggestion of foul play in the manner of his death. There is no outstanding justice connected with his death except of course that which is not yet served to his many victims.
His photo was put there to taunt, to provoke, to tease and to hurt.
It is a reminder to us all that fundamental rights in Malta have been threatened before; our democracy has been trampled upon before; people have been killed before by the hands of power.
On Dom Mintoff’s authority a newspaper house was burnt down, church schools were locked down, people died in police custody, peaceful demonstrators were fired upon, property was taken away without compensation, discrimination and intimidation were institutionalised, and corruption was cultivated as a parasite at the heart of the state.
But Dom Mintoff is history. Not that we needed reminding but if you really thought we needed a visual aid to remind us of the impunity, the corruption and the wholesale transfer of our public space to criminal interests, you should have brought a more up to date reminder.
A picture of Joseph Muscat would have done nicely.
