Prime Minister Robert Abela, together with AFM commander Jeffrey Curmi and the 11-man crew of Patrol Boat P52, has been placed under a criminal inquiry after a formal police complaint was filed by civil society group Repubblika.

The very serious charge of murder is being levelled against them by the NGO.

Repubblika has also gone to the European Court of Human Rights, asking it to overturn a decision by Italy and Malta to close their ports to migrant vessels, but its request has been turned down.

The accusations against the 13 come after Malta’s decision to close its ports in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as unconfirmed claims that the army sabotaged a migrant vessel.

While Malta could have acted more humanely and done more to help migrants in distress, we feel that accusing these 13 individuals of murder is akin to jumping the gun.

In a situation as delicate as this one, where details are hard to come by, it is of paramount importance that we first establish all the facts before we start pointing fingers and accusing people of homicide.

The armed forces have not denied the sabotage claim, and their silence on this matter has done nothing to help their situation. Sources have said that the AFM chose not to engage in a tit-for-tat with NGOs but, given the seriousness of the allegations levelled against them, remaining silent was not the best course of action.

But the AFM’s lack of communication does not automatically make its members guilty of the charges levelled against them.

We must point out that the information coming from the Mediterranean Sea is not always accurate – just this week there were reports about the capsizing of a migrant boat, but this claim later turned out to be untrue.

It is in the best interest of all to first establish the facts. Only then can we identify who was responsible for death of these migrants, and only then should people be criminally investigated.

We must keep things into perspective and not fall for either extreme narrative.

We must be clear – the inaction by Malta and other EU countries in a situation where migrants were pleading for help is deplorable. To leave the migrants adrift only for them to be picked up by the Libyan coast guard and returned to Tripoli was not morally correct.

Many of us remember the controversy surrounding the deportation of Eritrean migrants in 2002. We should learn from past mistakes and not repeat them.

At the same time, Malta and other EU countries cannot be blamed for the instability that exists in countries like Libya. And we definitely cannot be singled out in what is clearly an EU-wide problem.

The fact that the ECHR chose not to overturn the government’s decision to close the ports is very indicative. And the fact that the European Union is discussing Malta’s proposal for a humanitarian mission in Libya, as put forward by Foreign Affairs Minister Evarist Bartolo, bring some hope of European solidarity.

But while Malta is right in insisting that the EU should act as a bloc on migration, it must be more considerate in the way it acts. If the decision to not pick up these migrants was a way of putting pressure on the EU, it was the wrong way of conveying a message.

Lastly, we must also comment on the role of Jason Azzopardi as one of the four lawyers who have signed the criminal complaints. While Azzopardi has a right, as a private lawyer, to take part of such an initiative, he cannot ignore the fact that his every action will reflect on the party he forms part of.

As was bound to happen, the government has used Azzopardi’s role in the court action to turn its guns on the Opposition. The fact that the protest accusing AFM members of murder came on the same day that Adrian Delia visited an army barracks and spoke highly of our soldiers only adds to the irony.

Azzopardi must realise that he can never truly divest himself of his role as an MP. People know him, first and foremost, as a Nationalist Member of Parliament, and every comment he posts on Facebook, every move he makes as a lawyer, will in some way be linked to the party. That is just the way it is. Azzopardi must decide what hat he wants to wear the most.