From my article in The Sunday Times today: "Let me translate pizzo to ‘silent partner’, and then things will feel more familiar. "In hushed whispers, many will admit that there are sectors of our economy that are not open to all that may be interested. And for those that are allowed in, there’s an [...]
Sent in by someone known to me: On a popular current affairs discussion RAI programme, a prominent political person asked the rhetorical question: “Si deve chiedere se Malta veramente e un paese del UE o no.” The body language of both the interviewer and his guest to that question was in the negative. Because Malta [...]
Last Sunday Noel Grima contrasted the tenacity of the activists that campaign for truth and justice in the case of Daphne Caruana Galizia with the floppiness of the Nationalist Party. “I wondered,” Noel Grima wrote, “not just at the tenacity of this small group, without any visible means of support, and with no political background, [...]
The story of the fired Valletta parish priest and the church paraphernalia put up for sale in an antique shop opens questions quite beyond the obvious intrigue of a cleric fallen from grace. On one level silverware and art that did not belong to Deo Debono but were entrusted in his care found their way [...]
Here's the front door of the Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates office in Valletta before the rubbish collectors go by. It is a scene reminiscent of the headquarters of the SS just before the Russians rolled into Berlin. And of course more recently of the offices of Nexia BT and Mossack Fonseca (Malta) after Daphne Caruana Galizia [...]
Here's my article in this month's Money Magazine: Malta is not just a democracy. If it was, we’d take a vote on whether to abolish all taxation and it would probably pass. For a second there you might think paying no tax would be a good thing. Until you remember you would not be [...]
The government is trying to dispel the notion that Chetcuti Cauchi were a privileged crew. They have to do that or they’ll go down with the ship and the Chetcuti Cauchis are not worth that sort of trouble. They’re friends, but not that much. They are part of the brood we saw emerge from nowhere [...]
Giancarlo Siani was an Italian crime reporter from Naples, who was killed by the Camorra. On June 10, 1985, three months before he was killed, Siani had revealed that the arrest of Valentino Gionta had been decided by Lorenzo Nuvoletta, head of the Nuvoletta clan, a rival Camorra clan. Siani was preparing a dossier on [...]
Have you noticed how the license number for Chetcuti Cauchi law firm to sell Maltese passports is IIP001. Their license was suspended today after they were caught on camera gloating something to the effect of being able to get any crook a passport because they're buddies with Owen Bonnici, Julia Farrugia and Joseph Muscat. IIP001 [...]
In a brief statement the government announced that "the Malta Individual Investor Programme Agency has suspended the licences of Chetcuti Cauchi Advisors Ltd, holders of licences IIP 001 and IIP 124, until further notice." That's after Jean-Philippe Chetcuti, partner of the firm, was shown in a French TV channel M6 documentary last night boasting that [...]
Sent in by someone known to me: As expected, Joseph Muscat has failed to call an independent comprehensive inquiry on his government’s role in Daphne’s assassination within the three month deadline. That is the stark truth. Since the deadline has not been met, it is now up to the Council of Europe to match their [...]
This was the concluding section of a recent article by Saviour Balzan: The Caruana Galizia family has to be congratulated for having built a narrative that has played well in the media, most especially that in the foreign domain. They have now called for a meeting with the Prime Minister to complain over the composition [...]
Do watch this documentary broadcast last night by French channel M6. Its transmission can't be the last you've heard of it. It's exactly what you're used to watch: a beautiful island known heretofore as a tourism destination but under the shiny sheen of the promotional videos a country uglified by corruption, violence, collusion and crime. [...]
I don’t really see the point of all the circumlocution. Joseph Muscat carries the ultimate responsibility for all the awkward answers a truly independent and impartial inquiry could turn out.If it is determined that the state could have done more to protect Daphne Caruana Galizia, the buck stops with Joseph Muscat. If it is determined [...]
Repubblika refers to the government’s statement (PR 191970) that reacts to our statement of this morning. The fact that retired Judge Michael Mallia’s involvement in the criminal inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia followed “the consent of all parties involved” does not address the potential conflict of that role with the role of [...]
Statement by Repubblika: REPUBBLIKA’S REACTION TO ANNOUNCEMENT OF INQUIRY INTO THE ASSASSINATION OF DAPHNE CARUANA GALIZIA Repubblika has supported and continues to support the call by Daphne Caruana Galizia’s family for an independent, public inquiry into the assassination of their wife and mother. We are now deeply disturbed to learn from the family’s statement of [...]
An order by the US federal court has confirmed the requirement for Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad to keep on his electronic tag which is used to confirm he has not breached his bail conditions and attempted to leave the tristate area around New York. Ali Sadr's bail pending his trial, now set for 2 March [...]
Statement by the Caruana Galizia family in reaction to the government's announcement for a public inquiry into Daphne's assassination. Daphne Caruana Galizia’s heirs request meeting on composition of board of inquiry A Public Inquiry chaired by a respected former judge is what all right-minded people have been calling for since our mother’s and wife's assassination. [...]
https://youtu.be/BfzT7EQJACI I beg you to excuse me for reading my speech, but since I do not know English, it had to be translated. Today is an important day for you, but it is also an important day for us, or rather, for all of us. When, on the 26thJune, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council [...]
https://youtu.be/8wA6mfHMb98