The news that the two architects found guilty for the death of Miriam Pace manage to come out the courts with 400 and 480 hours of community service respectively and a fine each, and avoid jail-time, has been met with reactions of anger and incredulity.
54-year-old Miriam Pace, a mother of two, was killed after her house collapsed into an adjacent construction site on 2 March 2020 in Santa Venera.
37-year-old architect Roderick Camilleri of Rabat, Perit Anthony Mangion of Gżira, 73, were charged with negligently causing Pace’s death in 2020, and were found guilty on Thursday.
They were sentenced to a cumulative total of 880 hours of community service and fined a total of €18,000 between them.
Taking into account the accused’s clean criminal record and other factors, it did not feel that prison was fitting but said a community service order in its maximum was fitting.
The decision however has been roundly panned by NGOs and by many others on social media.
In a statement on Facebook, NGO Repubblika said that the courts had killed Pace for a second time, and that justice had not been done.
“Miriam… who was killed while others were making money. Miriam… who was killed in a frantic race for someone to fill their bank account while suffocated others in concrete. Miriam… who was killed so, as we wrote to the President, our country can continue being filled with monuments to greed and mediocrity”, the NGO wrote.
“Those who encouraged us to ‘make hay while the sun shines’, put everyone else in a shadow”< the NGO said in reference to a now infamous statement once said by Malta Developers Association President Sandro Chetcuti.
Moviment Graffitti meanwhile branded the sentence as “shameful” and “ridiculous”.
“While in his sentence, [Magistrate] Mifsud said that the courts should not give way to public opinion, the ridiculous penalty given for the death of this woman is an indication of how the authorities, the laws, and the courts in Malta truly respect the value of life”, the NGO said.
“Besides that, the signal to developers that they can do what they want without consequence has come out from the courts itself”, it added.