Uncertainty surfaces of whereabouts of Borg Pisani's remains

The story of Carmelo Borg Pisani, who was sent to the gallows 61 years ago, took a new twist yesterday when it was learnt that his remains had been transferred to the Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery about 20 years ago, but it is not known today exactly where they are.

For several years lobbyists had called upon the authorities to release his remains from the prisons, where the British put him to death on November 28, 1942, and grant him a proper burial.

But sources close to the prisons said that the remains of Borg Pisani, considered a hero by some and a traitor by others, had actually been transferred to the Addolorata back in the eighties.

"The graves at the prisons are empty and Borg Pisani's remains were among those transferred to the cemetery," the sources told The Times yesterday.

A former prison official said that remains of over 15 convicted criminals were transferred to the cemetery's Osseria Comune - a common grave.

A cemetery official said yesterday it would be very difficult to establish in which of the Addolorata's four Osseria Comune Borg Pisani was buried since hardly any records existed of who the deceased were who were put in such graves.

Borg Pisani was put to death 61 years ago, but many consider him a hero and are determined to have his case reopened.

Borg Pisani was a young artist and idealist who believed that Malta belonged to Italy both ethnically and culturally and that Britain had no right to rule over Malta.

He never recognised the legitimacy of colonial rule, and renounced a British passport.

According to the book Maltese Biographies of the 20th Century, Borg Pisani joined the Italian army in 1941 and a year later was selected to undertake a spying mission to Malta prior to an invasion of the island.

Borg Pisani landed near Marsaxlokk and signalled for help when the sea became rough and he was in danger of drowning. Eventually he was rescued by an RAF boat.

At Mtarfa Hospital, Borg Pisani was recognised by a Maltese doctor who had been his neighbour in Senglea. He handed him over to the authorities.

Before he was identified, Borg Pisani had already decided to give himself up and make a full confession.

But six months later, the 28-year-old student was hanged at Corradino Civil Prisons after being found guilty of treason, a crime punishable by death. Laurence Mizzi, author of three books on Borg Pisani, including this year's Il-Kaz Borg Pisani, Sittin Sena Wara, said he had not seen any official documentation that proved that his remains had been transferred from the prisons.

"Although there have been some rumours, it has never been confirmed," he said.

The case is made more difficult because there are no surviving members of his family.

Only last weekend, an Italian author, who is head of the Political Science Department at the University of Genova, Prof. Giulio Vignoli, and his son Dr Francesco Vignoli, were in Malta to pay tribute to Borg Pisani at the Corradino Prisons.

In 1992 Prof. Vignoli brought over a marble slab (pictured) with the inscription: Carmelo Borg Pisani. Italiani non Immemori nel 50 della morte 1942 - 1992.' He had hoped to place it above his grave at the prisons, but the authorities turned down the request.

Sandro Vella, who is campaigning for Borg Pisani to be given a proper burial, said his remains should be sent to Italy for a symbolic ceremony.

"I am not a fascist. But Borg Pisani was a man of principles and above all, he was an artist. If we don't recognise someone like this, then we have a serious problem."

Among those who still believed that Borg Pisani's remains are at the prisons is Victor Scerri.

It was shameful, Mr Scerri noted, that no records seemed to exist of the whereabouts of Borg Pisani's remains.

Writing in The Times last Friday, Mr Scerri said that Borg Pisani was wearing a foreign military uniform when he was captured, as did many Maltese who wore a British uniform, which in his eyes was as foreign to Malta as the Italian.

"One wonders whether that fact should have granted him the status of a prisoner of war under the Geneva Convention and not the humiliating hanging that this idealist was ultimately subjected to."

The time has come for his case to be reviewed by a Maltese tribunal, which has no choice but to at least let him rest in peace and grant him a belated decent burial, Mr Scerri argued. A number of individuals captured for similar "crimes" were in fact subsequently released, he said.

Mr Scerri said that if Borg Pisani was in fact buried in a common grave there still should be no reason why the authorities should not be able to identify his remains through the use of DNA.

"Borg Pisani wasn't a fascist but someone who considered himself Italian and who believed that Malta had its rightful place within Italy.

"I guess many would still argue that the best way is to let sleeping dogs lie. But I think the time has come to look at history from a different perspective.