We’ve already had a whirlwind of a year and as August was approaching, I started to look forward to what in the UK is referred to as the silly season – a month or so during the summer months when news dies down and the media is filled with frivolous and light stories. This year however, it seems that there’s going to be no silly season for us in Malta, because big news, big stories, and shocking updates, haven’t stopped hitting the headlines.
Predictable yet shocking public inquiry
The hottest month of the year kicked off with the hottest and most infuriating piece of news – “Public inquiry holds The State responsible for Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder”. Although we had long been expecting this outcome from the public Inquiry it was still shocking to read just how many people were involved, and how many others looked the other way. Daphne did not deserve to die like that, her family do not deserve to suffer like this, and Malta certainly does not deserve the bad reputation that a few corrupt politicians have brought upon it.
According to the inquiry not only did the State fail to recognise the risks that Daphne was in, not only did it fail to take any steps to avoid those risks, but also promoted a culture of impunity and familiarity that led to the rule of law collapsing. The public inquiry made it amply clear that is not just those who were directly involved that are to blame, but the whole Muscat Cabinet was collectively responsible for not asserting their voluntary judgement. This is why they all need to admit their faults and step aside with whatever dignity they have left.
Children paying the price
Then we had the case of two mothers, teachers, who were escaping persecution from Turkey, being jailed for using false documents in Malta. A court found them guilty of passport fraud, jailed them for six months, and separated them from their very young children. The PN immediately issued a statement against this decision, stating that in this situation, separating mothers from their children infringes Malta’s international legal obligations and did not put the best interests of the children first.
Thankfully the court of appeal overturned the effective prison sentence for the two mothers. Whilst it upheld the six-month prison sentence it suspended it for two years allowing the mothers to be reunited with their children. As a mother of a young boy myself I can just imagine how devastated and desperate these mothers and their children must have felt. Children need to be with their mothers and as the court of appeal stated, whilst the sentence was not legally incorrect, the authorities should not put everyone in the same basket, but treat cases individually. In this case it was clear that the mothers were honest people trying to reach another country for their safety and the safety of their families.
Another attempted suicide in prison
On Sunday 8 August, a Maltese inmate attempted to commit suicide and finally the government appointed an inquiry board. In the past three years 12 prisoners have died at Corradino Correctional Facility and now we finally have a board of inquiry that is going to investigate the Correctional Services Agency’s procedures with regards to assessing and handling inmates’ mental and physical health. Did it have to come to this, I ask? Why all this lethargy? We’ve known that there’s a problem at Corradino for years, and yet it has taken so long to do the bare minimum – investigate properly. A proper correctional facility is one where people are rehabilitated and come out better people than they went in, not dead!
No to kill shelters
An opinion piece by The Commissioner for Animal Welfare highlighted just how grave the situation of abandoned and stray animals is in Malta and Gozo. We might not see dogs roaming the streets anymore and we’ve grown accustomed to seeing stray cats everywhere, but the situation is so dire with sanctuaries splitting at the seams, that if no action is taken now Malta will end up going down the same road of other countries and introducing kill shelters. The Commissioner explained that this is not happening now or something that anyone has proposed, in the least herself, but if the government does not give this problem due importance, kill shelters will become inevitable. Commissioner Alison Bezzina went on to list the top five things that can turn the situation around – 1. a national state-funded neutering campaign, 2. a stronger law on breeding animals 3. making the microchipping of pet cats obligatory, 4. more adoptions vs buying, and 5. taxing breeders for their sales. None of these proposals are new, in fact they have been on the national agenda for years, and yet we have now waited for so long, that the risk is too real to ignore.
The lessons from Tokyo
When the 32nd Summer Olympic games kicked off, nobody knew how they would unfold. With strict COVID-19 restrictions and no fans in the stands, athletes could have felt deflated, fans could have become uninterested, and the whole historic event could have gone south. But after more than 300 events in more than 30 sports disciplines and more than 11,000 athletes participating, it became clear that when determined people put their heads together, things happen. The scale of success achieved during this year’s Olympic games have set a new bar for planning and delivering against all odds. Not only did the athletes prove their dedication, persistence, talent, and love of sports, but the organisers who delivered an incredible event despite the pandemic, managed to effectuate even more regardless of the situation. As the games came to an end, I couldn’t help but hope that we could use such dedication and determination to help Malta recover and once again, despite the odds, deliver gold.
Roselyn Borg Knight is
International Secretary and Candidate on the 9th and 10th districts, Partit Nazzjonalista