"Yesterday's enforcement on billboards was another episode of the regime using its power to trample on the basic freedoms of those who would criticise it," Occupy Justice has said in a statement.

"The government may have had every reason at law to enforce the removal of billboards but it has neglected those reasons every day before yesterday. It decided to enforce yesterday because our Ebbing, Missouri style protest billboards went up that same morning. It chose 7pm on a Friday night for its enforcement, causing traffic chaos and inconvenience, to combine its vile act of suppression with our gathering in Valletta at the Daphne Caruana Galizia memorial."

"Like the bombers who killed Daphne to warn off her sources, the government yesterday threw the book at the billboard contractor to warn off all businesses in Malta. The government's message is clear: providing any service to civil society will bring retribution of the full force of the government's power."

This surprises no one, Occupy Justice said. "The climate of fear that has gripped the nation is justified by the discriminate application of the law to serve the interests of the powerful." 

"The government's zeal in enforcing planning laws on removable billboards yesterday contrasts with their eagerness to drown our islands in cement and shadows. The government's zeal for enforcement of the law contrasts with the protection it gives to people who should evidently be investigated and perhaps indicted namely: Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi."

"Yesterday, around the world, there were other protests inspired by the Ebbing, Missouri billboards. A London protest called for justice for victims of the Grenfell Tower disaster. Florida activists called for justice for victims of weak gun control. Only in Malta did the government being protested against clamped down on the basic right of expression."

"#occupyjustice will continue its fight no matter the government's continued abuse of its powers."

"This is our nation, this is our home, and we are the people. We expect better, we deserve better, we demand better."