Much has been written on Black Monday, glorifying one saint and demonising several sinners.

I refer to Kurt Sansone's version that an elderly man from Mosta had shot at Dom Mintoff's office; to Laurence Grech's contribution in A Tribute to Lino Spiteri (page 231): "An elderly man fired some shots at the door leading to the prime minister's office", and to Maria Camilleri's eye-opening reference on Bondiplus to Edgar Mizzi's version of events in his book, the incidents of October 15, 1979 seem to make out the victim to be a callous murderer.

As a result, the Labour Cabinet, led by the untiring Lorry Sant, became the perfect government; Opposition Leader Eddie Fenech Adami the most saintly of saints; the two defence lawyers, the best around, obtained a sentence of life imprisonment for the madman at Mount Carmel Hospital; The Times ended up with a modern interior structure and new equipment installed thanks to the insurance money; and Mr Mintoff's supporters' rampage justified by the action and their reactions because of the course of events.

The man's family, on the other hand, had to suffer in silence and accept the lies fed to the Maltese media since 1979.

But one day the truth will surface and the facts will become known that Karm Grima was no murderer but a simple and upright citizen who went to meet his Prime Minister, as was agreed weeks before with Mr Mintoff himself. He went to report, in writing, a misdemeanour by one of his senior ministers; that the PRO at Castille knew about Mr Grima's intentions days before and informed the minister involved, and that it was a premeditated attempt on Mr Grima's life by two men in the corridors of Castille to shut up anyone who complained against the regime.

Unfortunately, four shots were fired at our father, two of them near misses, and three bullets were lodged in his body; this pushed us to the very edge and we had to swallow the untrue version of events fed to the Maltese by unscrupulous politicians.

The aim was to close the chapter. We thought wisely that he who fights and runs away has at least the chance to fight another day.

However, as too many big shots are involved in this frame-up, truth has to fight an uphill battle. It will certainly emerge if the two inquiries carried out by Magistrate (now Judge) Joseph Filletti and former Judge Godwin Muscat Azzopardi are found.

Both established that Mr Grima did not shoot but was shot at three times and the bullets were still in his body when he passed away.

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