In the legal world, it happens very rarely that people who are accused of a crime testify.

The right to silence affords them the possibility to keep their mouth shut, both during an interrogation by the police as they investigate a crime, and also when, eventually, they find themselves in a court of law.

If they do speak up, they are warned – at the time of their arrest and when they are testifying in court – that anything they say can be used against them. They are told that they could incriminate themselves if they speak.

So the great majority of accused persons choose not to take the stand in a court of law. Although this does not imply that they are guilty, and jurors are specifically instructed that giving no testimony is not inferring any guilt, staying silent does send the message that the accused has something to hide.

This is what happens in legal proceedings.

It also happens in politics that, sometimes, politicians opt not to comment or refrain from speaking up when they have the opportunity to defend themselves on accusations that are levelled against them – not necessarily criminal, but mostly regarding their political responsibilities.

Unlike what happens in law courts, where most of the accused invoke their right to silence, most politicians do try their utmost to defend themselves when they are accused of any wrongdoing. Whether what they say does satisfy a thirst for information is another matter, but at least many of them do not shy away from the media.

So, then, it is rather strange when politicians choose to remain silent on matters that concern them directly.

It happened last week when the three ministers who, according to an Opposition motion presented in Parliament, should have resigned in the wake of the publication of the Jean Paul Sofia public inquiry report, chose not to speak up during a three-hour debate in the House of Representatives.

Ministers Miriam Dalli, Silvio Schembri and Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi did not intervene, in their own defence, during the discussion. Whether this happened because they chose not to speak, or because they were not allowed to by Labour is not known. What is sure is that this silence does give the impression that the three ministers were afraid that anything they said could be used against them.

We are not saying that the three ministers are guilty of a crime. What we are saying is that their silence following the Sofia public inquiry speaks volumes about the lack of accountability that exists in politics. They have chosen not to resign, and Prime Minister Robert Abela has kept them in his team, but don’t they have anything to say in their defence?

Is this the kind of respect they are showing to the people following such a tragedy for which, a public inquiry has found, the State has so much blame to carry? Is this the respect they want to show to the Sofia family (after they had, together with their colleagues, voted against the holding of a public inquiry)?

The least they could do is give an explanation. Is this too much to ask for?