V18 Chairman Jason Micallef has objected to a call for the Valletta local council to recognise the makeshift memorial dedicated to assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia currently placed on the Great Siege Monument just outside the law courts.
The Civil Society Network has appealed to the Valletta local council to recognise the makeshift memorial, situated opposite the law courts after a Labour local councillor presented a motion to have it removed.
Micallef said, on Facebook, that he will ppose this both as Chairman of V18 and on a personal basis. He said that the monument was built in 1927 in order to remember our forefathers greatest victory, the Great Siege.
"What is being proposed is not acceptable for a thousand reasons, and I expect the authorities to exercise common sense with the technical help from foundations like Din L-Art Helwa who, in 2010, was responsible for the restoration of the monument. It is nw time for Din L-Art Helwa to also speak, it has been quiet for too long on this case."
Civil Society Network Malta said that it totally disagrees with the proposed motion by the PL local councillor to remove the memorial. "The memorial was erected by the people for the people in order to remind the public of the brutal assassination of the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia."
Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered last October just down the road from her home in Bidnija.
"CSN is in the process of formally applying for a memorial in this square. The memorial will be a reminder and acknowledgement of Daphne Caruana Galizia for the present and future generations, a reminder of her work, and also a reminder that we are still awaiting justice." The memorial will be crowdfunded, CSN said, in order for the monument to remain "of the people and for the people."
PL Councillor Ray Azzopardi wrote on Facebook that he presented the motion for the council to take action over "illegally placed photos and pictures."
He said that the monument is a national monument dedicated to those who fought in the Great Siege, and not a "personal grave".
He quoted a section of the criminal code which read: "whosoever shall destroy, throw down, deface, or otherwise damage any monument, statue, or other object of art, destined for public utility or public embellishment, and erected by, or with the permission of the public authority, shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term from six to eighteen months or to a fine (multa) not exceeding three thousand and five hundred euro (€3,500)"