This photo was taken by Darrin Zammit Lupi for Reuters. A policeman tried to block his lens even though the photographer told him he was a journalist doing his job. As you can still figure out the policeman was seeking to censor a protest by Il-Kenniesa that showed cardboard cutouts of Keith Schembri and [...]
Jacob Borg’s Times of Malta story yesterday revealed MFSP Financial has been fined by the FIAU for breaching MFSA laws. It is right that intermediaries are checked and held to account as these cowboy operations enable the crimes of money launderers, tax dodgers and fraudsters. But that’s only half the job done. If the FIAU [...]
Cyrus Engerer already meant to run for MEP in the past. He withdrew his candidature in the last minute because of a conviction for spreading revenge porn photos of his ex boyfriend after a bad breakup. His withdrawal from the candidature was hailed by Labour’s Joseph Muscat as heroic. Indeed he endowed a former PN [...]
Statement today by #occupyjustice: A Tree of Justice was ‘planted’ outside Upper Barrakka Gardens on Saturday afternoon with protest letters hanging as ‘fruit’ from its branches, to mark eight months since the assassination of the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. “The roots of evil are all we are left with,” said #OccupyJustice, a group of activists [...]
Darrin Zammit Lupi, Reuters photographer, wanted to take a photo of Castille this morning. A policeman disagreed. This is the result.
Il-Kenniesa rolled out some cardboard cutouts today, straight out of the family album of the good guys. You know Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi, Chris Cardona: they're just misunderstood.
There’s a strong message in the banners that went up last night, 8 months since the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia. She has been silenced. But that doesn’t mean everyone else will be. It is a message to those who want silence because the sound of protest and the sound of truth reveals their darkest [...]
Clyde Puli gave an interview to The Malta Independent and something odd came out. Well there were quite a few odd things, but let’s stick to one. He announced the candidature of two new MEP candidates, and the possibility of another two should they accept and clarified that the party has done away with its [...]
Photo by Milos Bicanski/Getty Images The decision of the Greek Supreme Court to refuse Malta's request for the extradition of Maria Efimova is very, very significant. It is extremely rare for an EU Member State not to trust another Member State with the safety of a person accused of crime. Although this obviously [...]
If you don't call for truth and justice no one will. This week the Maltese courts found the government in breach of fundamental human rights of Daphne Caruana Galizia's family because no one can have any confidence of political independence of the police. The Greek Supreme Court protected Daphne Caruana Galizia's source, Maria Efimova, from [...]
The Nationalist Opposition is being persistently neglectful of its constitutional duty to shadow the government, highlight its weaknesses, oppose its excesses and provide alternative solutions to help drive forward the debate. You’ve got one job. You’re not doing it. Jurgen Balzan of The Shift News recently asked if the Nationalist Party is enabling Labour’s corruption [...]
Flagship Greek TV ERT1 (Ellinikí Radiophonia Tileórasi 1) has broadcast a detailed reportage on Malta starting with the Valletta 2018 capital of culture context but moving onto understanding Malta through the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia and its aftermath. The 'Daphne section' starts in the 30th minute and includes interviews with Mark Wood, Lizzie Eldridge, [...]
I spoke today at a conference in the European Parliament building in Strasbourg called by MEP David Casa and colleagues of his from several groups across the political divide about the legislation protecting journalists from defamation law suits filed in different countries to scare journalists from writing about the corrupt and the rich. It was [...]
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and, third ranking in the ranking order of the government Minister Chris Cardona is today missing a series of votes in Parliament. The government is in no danger of losing the votes but the absence of a senior Minister is significant especially since it is not excused by any [...]
Konrad Mizzi announced an Air Malta campaign on a treasure hunt. He knows a thing or two about hidden treasures and he knows a thing or two about his treasures being found by others. It’s truly a week for PR disasters, isn’t it? Meantime here’s how one of the Air Malta planes will look like [...]
Judge Silvio Meli’s decision finding yesterday in the constitutional action filed by Daphne Caruana Galizia’s heirs against the government needs careful reading. Of course the first impact is the judge’s order to have Silvio Valletta taken off the case. And in there is a very important observation: it is ridiculous to expect someone married to [...]
Since we are not to consider a woman as merely an extension of her husband, we are not to judge a man by the behaviour of his wife. If a man should not be able to control his wife he cannot be held responsible for her behaviour. A leader’s wife is not a child. She [...]
They had to get legal advice that their rights were being breached. When they did, the government in an official statement branded them traitors. Then they had to argue in court that a politically exposed person cannot seriously be expected to investigate a crime where the suspects are politically exposed persons. Eight months since their [...]
Last week today I said Keith Schembri received two payments amounting to over $400,000, five weeks after he got back from a politicians-only trip to Baku in December 2014. Challenged in Parliament to react by Adrian Delia, Joseph Muscat stood up to say Keith Schembri denied this. He didn’t say when. He didn’t say how. [...]
Italy and Malta have populist governments and they are both pandering to the basic popular attitude of racial prejudice and indifference to the needs of others. The references to international law are convenient and facetious: they are the brandishing of excuses to avoid having to do what’s right even if unpopular. Of course brushing Malta [...]