Protestors Vow To Rebuild Caruana Galizia Memorial Site After Overnight Sweep
Left: The memorial this morning, Right: An action at the memorial last weekend
Activists demanding justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination will gather outside the law courts in Valletta this evening to rebuild the makeshift memorial to the late journalist after it was removed overnight.
“We will not allow this government to brush the assassination of a journalist away from the public eye,” protest group Occupy Justice said. “Justice has not been served and we will continue to gather at this memorial created by citizens until justice has been served. Join us tonight at 6pm. Bring flowers and candles.”
Some people have already started placing flowers, candles and notes to Caruana Galizia at the foot of the Great Siege monument, hours before the planned action.
A government spokesperson told Lovin Malta the sudden removal of the memorial was definitely not a government action.
Caruana Galizia’s sister Corinne Vella said consenting to the removal of the memorial would be contrary to the fundamental right to protest and the letter and spirit of law that is meant to safeguard it.
“It is no surprise those who removed the protest messages line up with Daphne’s assassins and executioners,” she said. “The one thing they have in common is deeply rooted fear that inconvenient truth will be exposed.”
Meanwhile, protest group Il-Kenniesa called on President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca to condemn the memorial sweep and civil society activist and PN councillor Michael Briguglio urged the police to check the CCTV cameras outside the law courts to find out who was responsible.
PN MEP Roberta Metsola said the memorial was cleared away after weeks of government politicians calling for its removal, while PN MP Therese Comodini Cachia lamented the “sorry state” of Malta and its culture. A request for comment has been sent to Opposition leader Adrian Delia, but he has not responded as of the time of writing.
As Europe faces attacks on the free media, in #Malta, after weeks of Government politicians calling for it to be removed, the memorial to assassinated anti-corruption journalist #DaphneCaruanaGalizia was cleared away in the dead of night.
We’ll put it back. Larger than before. https://t.co/Ef3H0wsabT
— Roberta Metsola MEP (@RobertaMetsola) March 5, 2018
Anger and frustration is what I feel when I see this.The more gov. positions itself against the people fighting for justice, the more courage we have to cont. What normal country would a gov want a memorial space of an assassinated journalist remove?Tonight we lay more flowers pic.twitter.com/YxQX6c0zgl
— Tina Urso (@TinaUrso1) March 5, 2018
The memorial was originally set up by a group of San Anton schoolchildren and has has since been maintained by citizens, including Caruana Galizia’s family. It has had its fair share of opponents though, with protestors repeatedly removing Caruana Galizia’s photo from the site and adding photos and messages to late Labour Prime Minister Dom Mintoff.
READ NEXT: Labour Supporters Leave Card For Mintoff At Caruana Galizia Memorial
