In an accolade for Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2018, renowned Italian writer and journalist Roberto Saviano wrote that she was killed because she had detected “an entire system designed for the flow of dirty money”.
The anti-mafia crusader, who has been under armed guard since 2006, knows a thing or two about ‘the system’. So much so that the Camorra has put a price on his head.
Malta is still a democratic country but good governance and the rule of law continue constantly being undermined.
The 20 proposals made by NGOs Repubblika and Occupy Justice to ensure “a cleaner republic” should, therefore, get all the attention they deserve. More importantly, they must be acted upon without any further loss of time.
Proposal 10, specifically, refers to an anti-mafia law: “Not only those who pull the trigger are guilty of a crime. Anyone who gets rich through their association with a mafia organisation forms part of the mafia and deserves to go to prison. We need a law against organised crime to catch whoever publicly hides their wealth while enjoying the wealth deriving from crime accomplished by others in his/her name.”
Caruana Galizia was assassinated because a crime organisation that extended right to the corridors of power decided she had to be silenced. That makes it not just a political murder but also one that has the hallmarks of a mafia death sentence.
The public inquiry into her death – for so long resisted by Joseph Muscat’s administration and then reluctantly accepted when domestic and international pressure was too much to bear – was very clear about what was happening.
What was taking shape, the public inquiry found, was a crime organisation that depended “on the improper influence and friendship of persons in business, in the police, in politics and in high institutions”.
The new scandals that emerged over the past two years could indicate such an organisation had, in fact, spread even wider than the inquiry board could observe at the time.
A conspiracy of a criminal nature, corrupting institutions and dismantling all systems and protocols designed to ensure good governance, seems to be a reality.
Taking a leaf out of Italian law, two years ago, the public inquiry had already “strongly” recommended changing the criminal code to include the crime of criminal mafia-style conspiracy.
Of course, bar rhetoric and empty talk of reform, the government continues to bide time, further proving that accepting to set up the public inquiry was never meant to really right wrongs and do what needs to be done.
There is good reason to believe that a mafia-style set-up pervades so many institutions and state entities, including the government itself.
By now, only the blinkered will not accept that the government and key institutions have been infiltrated if not by organised crime groups, certainly by individuals with vested interests. It is enough to look at the intricacies of the disability benefits and driving test scams we exposed in recent weeks.
Unless a proper legal set-up, including anti-mafia laws, are in place, sleazy politicians, law enforcement officers and public administration officials will continue to foster corruption and crime, eroding the rule of law and accountability.
A strong civil society and an independent media cannot cease to push for a change of direction and laws conducive to a democratic state where mafia-style organisations cannot thrive and journalists are not killed.