Shakespeare’s original manuscript copies of the plays have been gone for centuries, so the early printed editions, including the First Folio, are the closest thing we have to the plays as he wrote them. Out of the 36 plays included in the First Folio, 18 had never been published before. This month marks the 400th anniversary of arguably the greatest book every published.

I am no Shakespearean scholar by a long shot, I only studied his plays in school and played Macbeth very badly on stage to a rapt, or, should I say, captured audience of fellow students in the school auditorium. But as a bibliophile and a history geek, I do appreciate that there is no volume denser with genius than Shakespeare’s First Folio.

But what makes Shakespeare great and enduring is not only his supreme mastery of language. His writings have bequeathed to the world the greatest treatise on the operation of power, the human condition, at its best and its worst, and much else. The eminent American critic Harold Bloom credited Shakespeare with the “invention of the human”. That is why Shakespeare’s works are evergreen and appeal to every generation.

But the second week of November coincides with another important anniversary in the annals of skulduggery. I am writing this column four years to the day when the all-powerful Keith Schembri crumpled under pressure in court. He had filed a libel suit against Simon Busuttil because the latter had accused him of being corrupt. He testified to sustain his claim of innocence on October 16, 2017. Hours later, Daphne Caruana Galizia, the journalist who caught him feathering his nest in Panama, was killed by a car bomb.

Since then, Schembri had been dodging every effort to stand for cross-examination by Busuttil’s lawyers. Until Schembri had no other choice but stand in the dock to answer questions in November 2019. There were various moments when Schembri seriously flirted with handcuffs when he refused to answer. We thought he would be eager to clear his name.

After all, who could forget the tweet he had put out - “I have news for the lying DCG. You will face another libel suit and you will have no way out” (April 17, 2017) - that was retweeted by nearly every member of the cabinet and other goons in government and the Labour Party?

The tussle between the magistrate and Schembri was monumental and worthy of a set piece by the Bard himself. Then, the final act of surrender. After five orders by the magistrate to allow himself to be cross-examined in the lawsuit brought by himself on pain of arrest, Schembri threw in the towel. He withdrew the case. He folded.

Daphne Caruana Galizia epitomises the great Shakesperean heroine- Alessandra Dee Crespo

On revisiting this scene, I was reminded of a line from Hamlet: “Hoist[ed] with his own petard.” After all the braggadocio and the threats of revenge, Schembri clucked and ran out of the courtroom like a chicken for “cowards die many times before their deaths”. Indeed, this is from Julius Caesar.

Why am I bringing this up? Because Schembri is still out, enjoying his freedom thanks to our Police Commissioner Angelo Gafà, who, judging from the endless cartoons lampooning him, has become the proverbial character that brings comic relief as a break in Shakespeare’s tragedy plays.

Because, for the police commissioner, if you protest against the censorship of the public service broadcaster you are interrogated, if you protest against the destruction of trees in a town square, you are arrested. For some, especially those in the deep pockets of the government and sundry speculators, you are the criminal if you are vociferous, even on social media, on the grand scale corruption that has corrupted the moral fibre of our country and not those who pillage from the public coffers. The government allies go through great lengths to shut you up, even if they have to break the law and trample on your fundamental human rights to do so. These are the court jesters in the court of Claudius.

I mention the Schembri debacle because the showdown in court four years ago also triggered the biggest protests ever called by civil society that brought down one of the most corrupt prime ministers this country has ever seen.

Repubblika’s inquiry on the hospitals heists might be concluded soon.

Joseph Muscat is already positioning himself as a victim of a conspiracy. He is rallying his troops by bleating about Egrant 2 on the only two platforms that will host him – Facebook (like 2.989 other billion users) and Emanuel Cuschieri’s swivel chair.

Make no mistake, Muscat will not go down without a fight. Macbeth and his lady will want to keep their grasp on the little power they imagine they still possess.

But we are ready.

The last time Schembri stood up in court, Caruana Galizia was still alive. She epitomises the great Shakesperean heroine.

I have no quote from the Bard to illustrate her bravery and sacrifice.

No need.

Her famous last words, “There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is still desperate”, are up there in the pantheon of memorable lines.

Our country is calling us to do the right thing again.

We have no right to give up.

Alessandra Dee Crespo

We owe it to our children.

We owe it to Daphne.

We owe it to our country to get rid of the crooks and make our situation at least bearable.

Alessandra Dee Crespo is vice president of Repubblika.