Ahead of her appearance at this year’s memorial for slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, Slovakian political activist and Ján Kuciak Investigative Centre coordinator Karolína Farská spoke to James Cummings about her country’s shared political realities with Malta
When Karolína Farská decided to co-organise a protest in her native Slovakia in 2017, she didn’t think it would get much attention.
“We thought maybe a couple of dozens of people would come, at the maximum,” she said.
“However, the event really got a lot of attention. It started to grow, people started to like our ideas and, eventually, around 10,000 people came.”
Those in authority were implicated in frequent allegations of corruption at the time and the country’s younger generation was frustrated with the situation, Farská explained.
“The whole government was connected to multiple scandals and a lot of corruption problems,” she said.
The protesters’ main target was Slovakia’s then interior minister Robert Kalinak, who had been connected to a real estate developer under investigation for tax fraud.
I was a young idealistic person who was born into a democratic world and I didn’t imagine I was in a country where journalists could be killed- Karolina Farská
Kalinak defied calls to step down until, a year later, the shooting of Slovakian investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová shocked the nation, triggering widespread protests and leading to the collapse of the government led by Robert Fico.
At the time of his murder, Kuciak was investigating links between the ‘Ndrangheta Italian crime syndicate and senior government officials, including Fico’s chief State adviser and former glamour model Mária Trošková.
“It was unimaginable back then that he [Fico] would resign... so we knew that things must be bad,” said Farská.
“I was a young idealistic person who was born into a democratic world and I didn’t imagine I was in a country where journalists could be killed,” she explained.
While the middleman and two hitmen were convicted of Kuciak’s murder a year later, Slovak tycoon Marian Kočner – who had previously threatened the journalist after he published articles about his activities – was acquitted of involvement earlier this year due to lack of evidence. Kočner’s associate, Alena Zsuzsová was found guilty of masterminding the plot in the same trial at Slovakia’s supreme court, a verdict NGO Reporters Without Borders said left a “bitter taste.”
Parallels to Malta
Kuciak’s brutal killing came just four months after the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, an event Farská explained felt inconceivable in Slovakia at the time.
“I think people thought that it was horrible that something like that happened in Europe but, at the same time, we didn’t think it could happen in our country,” she said.
“It was terrible but... we didn’t realise we were living in the same hell.”
Like Kuciak, Caruana Galizia had alleged numerous instances of corruption involving high-ranking government officials, exposing secret Panama companies owned by former minister Konrad Mizzi and former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri.
Unlike in Kuciak’s case, the wheels of justice turned slowly for Caruana Galizia’s family, with two brothers responsible for her death only being found guilty five years later after changing their plea to guilty. A third man had pleaded guilty in exchange for a 15-year sentence. Meanwhile, Yorgen Fenech is still awaiting trial for his alleged complicity in her murder.
Is Farská surprised at the comparative lack of speed of the criminal proceedings in Malta?
“I was quite shocked when I heard about that... I don’t know if you can trust the judicial system or not in Malta,” she said.
I think both our countries are somewhere where a lot of people don’t want them to be.- Karolína Farská
Describing Malta and Slovakia as both having small and deeply divided populations and a “total lack of accountability”, Farská thinks both countries also have a cultural problem when it comes to attitudes to corrupt practices.
“I think both our countries are somewhere where a lot of people don’t want them to be. Those people are fighting for change but, then, there is a part of the population who, while they might not actively support corruption, don’t think it’s such a problem for their daily lives.”
Responding to the recent disability allowance and driving licence rackets, she believes these reveal a difference in response from the authorities when compared to other countries.
“When something happens in northern countries, the politician steps down immediately. But, in our countries, it’s day-to-day business,” she said.
Despite his alleged central role in the disability payments scandal, former Labour MP and family doctor Silvio Grixti continued to take on government consultancies after he was questioned by the police and subsequently resigned from parliament in 2021.
Meanwhile, Ian Borg has repeatedly ignored calls for his resignation after Times of Malta revealed that, as transport minister, he had regularly piled pressure on Transport Malta’s then director of licensing Clint Mansueto to “help” driving test candidates.
Borg continues to serve as foreign minister.
Murders a “mark on soul of country”
Commenting on the upcoming memorial service for Caruana Galizia, Farská stressed the importance of not forgetting incidents of violence.
“A journalist being killed is a huge mark on the soul of the country, it stays with you all the time,” she said.
“If you’re from a country where a journalist was killed, something which deeply traumatises a country, events like this are extremely important.”
Highlighting the role of journalism in combatting corruption, Farská said it was important the young generation are not discouraged from joining the profession, saying they “shouldn’t be afraid to be a journalist”.
“We have a lot of young people who are really good at what they do but why should they choose it? Why, if it’s a decision where you’re risking your life and your security?”
However, ultimately, Farská believes the public has a crucial role to play in bringing about change.
“Nothing will change if people won’t change and engage in the process,” she stressed.
“Both of our countries have a long history but a short history of independence and we’re still learning to live with what we fought for, how we want these institutions to be run and why democracy is actually important.
“Antipathy in the belief to change things and to be a part of that is quite understandable in the post-COVID world... everybody is so tired and I can understand that people just want some stability in this world.
“But what is important is to still talk to each other and to spread the idea that all of us can do something.
“Freedom is not an ending; you have to continue to do something to maintain it.”