Last Wednesday, we marked seven years from the assassination of the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and, despite the success of the commemorative events, the good turnout at the protest and vigil, I confess I have a gnawing feeling in my stomach. Seven years is a long time to wait for justice.

Seven years is almost enough time for the seeds of indifference to sprout, for people to move on and forget that October 16 is a moment that changed the course of our country’s history.

That’s the danger of passing time. It doesn’t stop running. And, with it, the fear, the anger, the disgust – they ebb away, relegated to a distant memory, a story to be recounted in the future.

But is Daphne’s assassination something to forget, to get over? I don’t think so.

It’s important to remember the horror we felt seven years ago when one phone call from out at sea triggered a bomb under the seat of Daphne’s car. It’s important to remember that bomb tore apart a woman.

It’s important to remember that Daphne’s son had run out of his house barefoot, to see his mother’s car had turned into a burning inferno. To find pieces of her scattered in a field.

It’s important to remember that, on October 16, 2017, a journalist was assassinated in broad daylight in Malta to silence her investigations into corruption.

As unsettling as it may be to read, its important to remember and acknowledge the graphic violence of the day because that’s what happened. Daphne didn’t go gently into the night but was torn from her life, savagely. Cruelly.

It’s important to remember that because it’s so easy to forget, for our memory to become muted. No one wants to remember the dark stains of our national history but those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.

It’s easy to forget that Daphne was killed for a purpose. Daphne was churning out one story after another on corruption. It was an act intended to silence her and others who were digging too deep. Is this the country we want to live in? Where omertà reigns and people wilt at the thought of speaking the truth and standing up against the powerful?

Remember that when people paid attention and united, the ground trembled beneath us. Remember that wave of anger that overtook this country in the following years because it forced the State to sit up straight. It led to resignations of disgraced ministers and a prime minister.

Remember because it’s easy to forget that Daphne was assassinated on a Monday afternoon while driving to the bank to discuss a freezing order. One that was placed upon her by the minister for the economy for writing an article that outed his presence at a brothel while on State business.

As time passes, continue to remember. Remember Daphne and choose to do something about it- Martina Farrugia

Remember that Daphne was a human being. She was Peter’s wife, a mother loved by three sons, a sister adored, a daughter treasured by Rose and Michael. She was an aunt, a friend, a leading journalist and blogger who had the power to enrapture us with her writings, make us laugh out loud at her snarky humour and who opened our eyes to the rot that lay beneath the surface of our sunny home.

The greatest lesson to be learned after Daphne’s assassination has to be the importance of free speech, of independent institutions, of accountability. Of having a system of checks and balances to ensure that the power is decentralised and kept in check, that business booms fairly. If we learn nothing at all, it must be the value of the rule of law and that repercussions must exist for those who flout it.

It would be an insult to Daphne’s sacrifice if the greatest lesson learned in these seven years is that you can assassinate your enemies and eventually enough time will pass, that people will forget. That they will move on and you can do it all over again.

We are already seeing tendrils of the same hostility rising again. That is the real danger of passing time. Justice delayed is justice denied and, without full justice, you can rest assured that impunity will rear its head again and embolden those who have so far evaded its clutches.

Don’t let that happen. Be present, be aware. Fight the temptation to ignore the ugly in favour of protecting your peace. Do the latter by protecting your home and ensuring that this is a country worth raising your kids in, that it’s run by people who are honest. That will only happen if it we can foster an active civilly minded society. No easy task, of course.

Ultimately, we need to remember the ugliness of October 16, 2017 because it is those in power who need to never forget. That life is precious and so is our democracy. If we treat it with disdain, that’s what we will get back.

A country that once glistened, now muted, sullied and indifferent – even in the face of a car bomb that caused their country’s democracy to implode and murdered one of its own.

As time passes, continue to remember. Remember Daphne and choose to do something about it.

Martina Farrugia is a maritime lawyer and a civil society activist with #occupyjustice.