This week, Minister for Education Owen Bonnici uploaded a vicious post. “Il-politiku tal-ħdura, il-Beatu Jason Azzopardi.....” it began. The Maltese word ‘ħdura’ is so vile that it lacks an adequate English translation, but roughly means the most vindictive spiteful hatred.
‘The politician of hatred’ the minister was referring to was not a historical dictator guilty of heinous crimes against humanity but a fellow MP.
Incredibly the minister’s same post concluded: “I have always acted with honesty and correctness”. So how honest and correct has Owen Bonnici been?
Bonnici used an unofficial e-mail address, owen@josephmuscat.com to conspire with Christian Kalin, Joseph Muscat and Keith Schembri against fellow citizens. Bonnici met Kalin, group chairman of Henley and Partners, to determine how to target Daphne Caruana Galizia, Jason Azzopardi and various media houses with ruinous SLAPP lawsuits to dissuade them from revealing details of their shady deals.
Finally, they agreed on targeting only Caruana Galizia. The Minister of Justice used a secretive e-mail on a private server in the US to conceal the fact that he was using a private company funded by the taxpayer to destroy a Maltese journalist. How is that for “honesty and correctness”?
After the barbaric murder of the same journalist, Bonnici steadfastly and doggedly refused requests for a public inquiry. His excuse was that held in parallel with criminal investigations, an inquiry might harm the investigations.
The Caruana Galizia family had to resort to a constitutional request for an inquiry into the murder. Bonnici still refused. Even after the Council of Europe overwhelmingly approved a call on the government to establish a public inquiry, Bonnici refused to commit to launching one as late as July 2019.
We know now a little of why he resisted for so long – despite the substantial body of evidence hidden behind closed doors.
When a public inquiry could no longer be avoided, Bonnici insisted that Judge Antonio Mizzi, husband of Labour MEP Marlene, should sit on the board, against the wishes of the Caruana Galizia family. Melvin Theuma had suggested to Yorgen Fenech to speak to Judge Mizzi who was seen by the murder suspects as being “on side”.
If it were up to Bonnici there never would have been an inquiry. If it were up to him, the very memory of the journalist would have been obliterated. According to his fellow Labour MP Deo Debattista, Bonnici gave orders for the makeshift memorial to the journalist to be repeatedly cleared.
The constitutional court ruled that Bonnici had breached the fundamental right to freedom of expression and violated the constitution. His orders were “the result of pique” and “a systematic method of disruption and obstruction that should never have happened”. “Owen Bonnici’s behaviour changed the site into an instrument of division” the court concluded.
But the day after this mauling, Bonnici remained defiantly unapologetic.
He claimed “I was always within the law” when he had been found guilty of violating Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 41 of the Constitution of Malta just a day earlier. And made to pay a substantial fine and court fees.
When Valletta 2018 chairman Jason Micallef mocked and ridiculed the dead journalist, Bonnici jumped to his defence.
After the barbaric murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Owen Bonnici steadfastly and doggedly refused requests for a public inquiry- Kevin Cassar
Leeuwarden, which shared the European Capital of Culture title with Valletta, boycotted Valletta 2018. A well-respected freedom of expression organisation PEN wrote to the European Commission accusing Micallef of “ridiculing the assassination of a journalist”.
But Bonnici refused to sack Micallef or even distance himself from Micallef’s comments. He justified his position on the basis of freedom of expression while simultaneously violating the freedom of expression of those honouring the journalist by systematically clearing her memorial.
A subsequent European Commission report concluded that Micallef’s comments had caused considerable damage to the European Capital of Culture’s reputation, but also damaged Valletta and Malta.
Bonnici’s response was to promote Micallef to the post of chairman of a new Valletta Cultural Agency. According to Maltese law, Micallef should have been disqualified from the post since he also occupied the post of executive chairman of One productions. But Bonnici inserted a provision in the law allowing himself to waive the disqualification – which he duly did.
Worse followed. Vince Muscat, il-Koħħu, one of three suspected murderers, requested a presidential pardon in exchange for information about the journalist’s murder as well as other serious crimes. Almost immediately, a concerted effort was initiated to stop him revealing information.
Within 48 hours, his co-conspirators were informed. The Degiorgio brothers confronted il-Koħħu. They knew he was spilling the beans and exactly what cases he was revealing. Threats to his life ensued. Rumours about planned attacks on his family and an acid attack on his daughter were circulated.
Disgraced police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar refused him and his lawyer protection. He also discredited il-Koħħu’s revelations as “hearsay”.
On October 7, 2019, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told the press he was “not keen on pardons”.
That very day, honest and correct Bonnici approached il-Koħħu’s lawyer at a funeral. Bonnici told lawyer Arthur Azzopardi that he would only offer one pardon. Not surprisingly, the lawyer found this very strange.
Bonnici’s not-so-subtle message to the lawyer echoed that of Joseph Muscat – advise your client to remain silent. The Minister for Justice of a European Union state approached the lawyer of the alleged murderer of the most high-profile journalist with a shady message at a private funeral – a scene straight out of a Mafia film.
And this is “honesty and correctness” for Bonnici, the man responsible for the education of our future generation.
Kevin Cassar is a consultant vascular surgeon and former PN candidate.