Civil society will stand up to the prime minister if he tries to stop justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia, the president of rule-of-law NGO Repubblika said on Wednesday.
Robert Aquilina was speaking at an online commemoration to mark the 38th month since the journalist was assassinated by a car bomb outside her house in 2017.
Prime Minister Robert Abela on Tuesday reacted vaguely to a decision by the judges presiding the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry to exceed their time limit because more information needs to be gathered. Abela had previously said he saw no need for an extension.
On Tuesday the government said that once the judges had taken it upon themselves to extend their time limit and terms of reference, they had to assume responsibility for the consequences.
Aquilina said the fact that no public demonstrations had been held in the past 10 months, owing to COVID-19, should not be seen by the government as a sign of weakness.
"We are as angry now as we were 38 months ago about the way the government is working to hide the truth," he said.
"We have spent three years battling under the principle that there can be no justice without change. And by change we did not mean that the prime minister, instead of working from Castille, works from Burmarrad, through somebody else," he said, referring to former prime minister Joseph Muscat, who lives in Burmarrad.
Change meant the proper separation of powers between the judiciary, an independent parliament and the government. It meant having functioning institutions in a society where the rule of law prevailed. Once there was rule of law, there would be no need for protests, journalists would not be killed and those whose wrongdoing was revealed by journalists got what they deserved.
"Yesterday, Robert Abela came out threatening three judges because they did not obey his edict. Instead of obeying the law, he wanted them to obey him. Instead of seeking the truth about the murder of Daphne Caruana Gaizia, he wanted them to shut up and go home," Aquilina said.
"But we are putting the government on notice. Whenever the government threatens journalists, we will take to the streets. Whenever the government threatens judges, we will take to the streets. It is our duty to ensure that all those who conscientiously serve the country is not downtrodden by the criminal tyranny which killed Daphne."
Robert Abela had to let the institutions work, when they functioned. He had to let the truth emerge so that justice could be served. "If you try to stop the process, we will stand up to you," Aquilina said.
They would not forget their duty just because the prime minister wanted them to, he said.