Activists' outrage as OPM defends Gafà’s ‘act of hatred’ on Daphne memorial
His actions have 'absolutely nothing to do' with the preservation of a national monument - Occupy Justice
Activists have described political appointee Neville Gafà’s controversial clearing of tributes to slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia as “institutionalised bullying” while expressing their disbelief at OPM’s defence of his actions as “freedom of expression”.
In a statement Saturday, Occupy Justice said it “beggars belief” that the prime minister had chosen to characterise “an act of pure hatred” as freedom of expression.
“On the 8th anniversary of a murdered journalist, the Prime Minister chooses to defend the indefensible instead of paying tribute to her [Caruana Galizia’s] memory,” the statement read.
The group was reacting to an OPM spokesperson saying yesterday that “freedom of expression applies to all” on Gafà’s clearing of the Great Siege monument in Valletta, a move criticised by embassies that had laid wreaths at the site earlier that day.
“The Prime Minister and his OPM staffers know well enough that the site is a protest, a term they continuously and conveniently choose to omit from their pitiful pronouncements,” activists said.
“How many times has the Prime Minister thrown a hissy fit, advising us to let the institutions do their work? And then, when they do, when the judiciary issues a 115-page ruling stating that it is the protestors’ right to protest, he proceeds to ignore this completely."
The group was referring to a 2020 ruling by the Constitutional Court that persistent clearing of the monument, at the time carried out by government officials, amounted to a breach of the right to freedom of expression. The ruling also issued guidelines on where to place tributes at the site.
Dismissing claims that Gafà was exercising his right of free expression, Occupy Justice said the OPM customer care coordinator’s actions were “institutionalised bullying, motivated only by the deep hate that festers within him towards Daphne Caruana Galizia.”
“His actions have absolutely nothing to do with the preservation of a national monument.”
In May, rule of law NGO Repubblika filed a judicial protest against Gafà, arguing his repeated attempts to dismantle the makeshift memorial for Caruana Galizia in Valletta constitute an “abusive and illegal act".
The Great Siege Monument, located in front of the law courts, became a memorial site for the slain journalist after her assassination in October 2017.