Civil Society group #Occupyjustice on Thursday put up three billboards “for the Prime Minister”.
They say:
* A Journalist Killed – No Justice;
* A Country Robbed – No Justice; and
* No Prosecutions - No Justice.
The billboards are intended to serve as a reminder to Robert Abela and his government that Daphne Caruana Galizia was brutally assassinated by a car bomb three years ago.
They are a reminder of when, in February 2018, #Occupyjustice engaged contractors to mount three billboards inspired by the Oscar-nominated movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, in which an anguished mother seeks justice for her murdered daughter.
A few hours after the billboards were put up, the government, then led by Joseph Muscat, issued an order to the Planning Authority to take down the billboards, including their structures.
Those billboards had said:
* A journalist killed. No Justice;
* A country robbed. No Justice; and
* No resignations. No Justice.
“Since then little has changed. The government did nothing then, it is doing nothing now, and it is still trying to interfere with the process of justice by threatening to cut short the public inquiry into her murder.”
The public inquiry, the group pointed out, will overrun its initially planned time frame because of the amount of filth being uncovered in every court and inquiry session. “Filth which incompetent people tried to cover up during Muscat’s legislature.”
Three years after Caruana Galizia began to unveil major corruption issues with regards to some of the biggest contracts signed by the Muscat/Schembri/Mizzi government, such as the hospital deal and the power station deal, the country is still in limbo and citizens are paying an extortionate price for them, #Occupyjustice said.
Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi, and those private families involved in these corrupt contracts made millions, and are still making millions, from taxpayers’ money, it said.
It added that the government, led by Robert Abela, who promised continuity before being elected, has still not ordered a review of these contracts, their publication in full, and their immediate termination.
Other than the fact that four people are being kept in custody because of their alleged involvement in the assassination, it is clear to everyone who follows the media that many other people directly or indirectly involved should be prosecuted, #Occupyjustice said.
“We demand justice for Daphne’s work too, and that means prosecutions for all the crimes that she reported on and was killed for. There have been more than three years of investigations into multiple wrongdoings, but nothing has happened yet. Justice is not being done. Justice is not being seen to be done.”
The present government, the group said, is evidently an accomplice of the previous one, which, in turn is an accomplice, directly or indirectly, of those behind the brutal assassination.
“If Robert Abela thinks that he can hide indefinitely behind a pandemic to contain our anger, we, the people, would like to remind him that we are still watching. We are angrier than ever, and we will not stop fighting for justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia, for justice for our country, and for justice for our people until the day that justice is truly served.
“This is our nation, this is our home, and we are the people. We expect better, we deserve better, we demand better,” it said.