Neville Gafà’s ‘illegal acts’ at Daphne memorial challenged in judicial protest
For weeks, blogger has been removing tributes to slain journalist and replacing them with denigrating messages
NGO Repubblika has filed a judicial protest against blogger Neville Gafà, arguing that his repeated attempts to dismantle the makeshift memorial for murdered journalist Daphne 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 Caruana Galizia after her assassination in October 2017.
For weeks, Gafà, a controversial official who previously worked in the Office of the Prime Minister, has been removing placards and candles placed at the site and sometimes replacing them with his own printouts denigrating the slain journalist.
In response to Gafà’s acts, Repubblika submitted a judicial protest, accusing him of engaging in vandalism against what it described as a “peaceful and civic protest”.
The protest says that Gafà publicly named individuals who left flowers and candles at the site and allegedly incited his followers to intimidate and threaten them. The group further accused Gafà of encouraging his readers to monitor the site and photograph anyone who added tributes to the memorial.
While the anti-corruption group acknowledged the right to freedom of expression, it stressed that this right should not be used to infringe on the rights of others through intimidation or threats.
Based on this, Repubblika said it reserves the right to take necessary legal action against Gafà and present any evidence to back its claims.
“Should you choose to persist in your abusive and illegal acts, [Repubblika] will have no alternative but to initiate legal proceedings against you without further notice,” the legal protest read.
On October 15, 2024, the day before the seventh anniversary of Caruana Galizia's murder, Gafà placed printouts of news stories that cast a negative light on the journalist.
At the time, Gafà said that his actions symbolised "the essence of free speech". He has consistently maintained that the Great Siege monument outside the law courts should not be "captured by extremists".
Gafà, a known loyalist of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, was implicated in a Libyan visa racket, allegations he has consistently denied and for which he has never faced criminal charges.
In January 2020, Civil society activist and blogger Manuel Delia won a constitutional case filed against Minister Owen Bonnici after he repeatedly ordered the removal of flowers, candles and photos at the memorial site.
Bonnici chose to apologise almost two years after the judgment.