The ball in our court

Three months ago to the day, a bomb shattered the peaceful surroundings of Bidnija. The violent shatter did more than just shatter the peaceful surrounding the beautiful valley itself. It shattered the illusion that our country was a normal democracy with heated debates.

Three months ago to the day, the life of Daphne Caruana Galizia came to a horrid and violent end. In life Caruana Galizia never shied away from calling a spade the way she seed it; even if doing so made her enemies; very powerful enemies. Caruana Galizia never shied away from making her arguments in her own inimitable style; she never shied away from investigative journalism no matter how risky such journalism got.

Many had moments where they disagreed with what she wrote; sometimes intensely disagreed with what she wrote. Many felt that on occasions her colourful style was perhaps not appropriate to the occasion in question. Despite these moments of disagreement many however saw in her the personification of liberty of expression. Daphne Caruana Galizia personified our right to ask questions of those in authority, our right to demand high ethical and moral standards from those in authority, our right to demand accountability as a right and not as an electoral pledge, our right to make our grievances heard even when such grievances concern the highest of authorities.

The bomb that shattered the peaceful surrounding of Bidnija and took away the life of the journalist that was Daphne Caruana Galizia also took away the illusion that our democracy is functioning in a normal manner where debates may get heated but where democracy, freedom, accountability, freedom of expression and meritocracy are a given.

Daphne’s death however should not lead us to give in or give up hope. On the contrary it should fuel in us the passion and energy needed to defend these basic rights we hold so dear. If we can defend democracy, liberty, freedom of expression, accountability and meritocracy than at least Daphne’s death will “only” be a sad reminder of a dark moment in our history when the life of a journalist, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister was taken away in such a horrific manner. It will not mark the day when our country fell so far down the slippery slope that to call ourselves a European democracy verges on hallucination level. Whether it shall be the former or the latter is entirely up to us.

All is not yet lost; we are still in time to defend democracy, freedom of expression, liberty, accountability and meritocracy. We must however act now and not allow ourselves to be blinded to the reality of the day.

Going well beyond Daphne...

Our country is still in shock after what happened yesterday. The assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia goes well beyond a simple murder. Any murder is always a crime of the most heinous order and deserves the full attention of the authorities. This murder should be no different; a woman was killed by an assassin who showed no regard for the sanctity of life or the rule of law. Finding the assassin of Daphne Caruana Galizia is the job of the relevant authorities and once identified it will be the job of courts to make sure that the said assassin gets his due. 

Yet what happened goes well beyond the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Whilst it is only right and just to mourn her loss on a personal level and to feel sympathy towards her husband Peter, her 3 sons and the rest of her family, we must in the grander scheme of things mourn something which goes well beyond; democracy itself! 

Daphne Caruana Galizia had a particular style of journalism and writing. Her criticism was open, harsh and unforgiving. Her targets where varied including some of the highest authorities in the country. She made no exceptions in establishing people she deemed worthy of criticism. 

Was her tone the right tone to adopt? Was her targeting unfair at times? Was her content often verging on the libellous? Were her stories based on truth or fiction? In a democracy we are all free to draw our own conclusions on these questions. We are all free to draw our conclusions in as public a manner as we choose to do so. For those who may have perhaps fallen within her radar of criticism, in a manner they deem to be unfair or unjust, there are legal remedies which may be availed of so that if any law has been broken emends may be made accordingly. 

The debate thus must not be as to whether we liked Daphne and her style of journalism or not. The debate must not be as to whether we agreed with her or even believed her. The debate must be as to whether in a democracy Daphne Caruana Galizia should have paid with her own life simply because she chose to make her opinions and views well known to one and all. The debate must be as to whether having a popular blog in this country is tantamount to literally putting one’s neck on the guillotine! 

Should opinion writing and investigative journalism be so risky in a modern democracy? Can we truly call ourselves a democracy or are we merely a state that has an election every five years or so? Can anyone feel safe to express his political views or act as a whistle-blower for the truth in today’s Malta? 

This is what we should truly be mourning today. The loss of a sense of freedom that in a modern democracy should be taken for granted but which yesterday went up in smoke for our beloved country. 

I must at the end of my short piece here quote two good friends of mine, whose sentiments I fully share. My good friend Mark Anthony Sammut wrote, “Daphne ma nqatlitx minn bomba. Daphne inqatlet minn Stat li falla. U minn kull wieħed u waħda minna li konna lesti nagħlqu għajnejna għal dan kollu. Għax il-but kien sejjer tajjeb. Għax konna komdi. Għax ir-rota qed iddur. Għax fil-verita', għalkemm ma rridux nammettu, morna lura flok 'il quddiem. Għax jekk qabel għal ħabba konna nqaxxru qamla, illum għal ewro lesti nħallu pajjiż jinqered. Anzi, konna lesti nħallu lil xi ħadd minn ħutna jmut”. A completely precise analysis. Another good friend of mine, Alan Abela-Wadge on the other hand wrote, “they might have silenced Daphne and gave you a scope to celebrate, but I got news for you. They cannot silence ALL of us. Daphne maybe gone, but her spirit will live forever”, making sure Daphne’s spirit lives forever is perhaps the best way we can make amends for the wrongs so precisely highlighted by Mark Anthony in his blog.