Activists taking part in a three-day sit in protest in front of the police headquarters this week were derided by many, and even threatened by a few, but the fact of the matter is that the answers they are seeking are the same answers many of us want to hear.

Some may have seen the rainy weather camping as nothing but a charade, but the message that these activists sent out was a very clear one – the police have been sitting on proof of corruption and wrongdoing for years now, and they have done little, if anything, about it.

Speaking at a demonstration in front of the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday, the activists had many pertinent questions for the police commissioner:

“Why was disgraced former minister Konrad Mizzi released after his arrest in November 2019, and why have the police have done nothing since? Is he currently under investigation? What are the police doing with the evidence that emanated from the Panama Papers leaks in 2016, and what about the FIAU reports that were leaked in the following months?

What happened to former assistant commissioner Silvio Valletta, who enjoyed a cosy relationship with Yorgen Fenech and faces accusations that he leaked details about the police investigation? What action is being taken against Ian Abdilla, the former economic crimes unit chief who sat on the evidence for years? What stage has investigation on Lawrence Cutajar reached? Where are the police on the Pilatus Bank case? What happened to the doctor who allegedly passed on messages between Keith Schembri and Yorgen Fenech? Will Sai Mizzi be giving us a refund for her cushy, taxpayer funded €13,000-a-month job that led to no tangible results? Are the people who gave pardoned middleman Melvin Theuma his phantom government job being investigated? What is the police doing with regard to John Dalli, whose name keeps cropping up over and over again, against whom the current police commissioner had said years back that there was enough evidence to prosecute? Will the Egrant inquiry be reopened, as recommended? Is Keith Schembri’s phone still missing in action?”

These, and many other questions remain unanswered to this day. Despite police action and money laundering prosecutions against ‘normal’ citizens, to date, no politician has been prosecuted on corruption, despite the growing mountain of evidence. Despite a political crisis that led to the resignation of a Prime Minister.

It is unbelievable that, in spite of all that happened over the last couple of years, no politician has yet faced justice. So, yes, the protest by Repubblika and other NGOs was needed to wake people up from their slumber and remind them that this is not a normal country, that we should not forget all these transgressions just because time has passed.

But not everyone in this country thinks in the same way, it seems.

The protest was given limited coverage by the state broadcaster and was the subject of incitement by the Labour Party media.

Rather than focusing on the message the activists were pushing, the PL media tried to discredit them by linking the activity to its arch-rival: the Nationalist Party.

Even journalists who were on site reporting on the event were targeted by the PL’s attack dog – Karl Stagno Navarra – who came up with a ludicrous conspiracy theory that the media is one of the pillars working against the government.

Stagno Navarra, who people should really stop referring to as a journalist, has since apologised, but the damage has been done. And it will continue to be done.

The Labour media has recently adopted a more aggressive stance against all government critics. It uses a belittling style of reporting, attacking the people behind the message, while conveniently ignoring the actual message altogether.

In doing so, it is inciting people to spew hatred against those few who dare speak up against corruption. The result: death threats against people who protested in front of the police headquarters, of all places. Such is the impunity that still reigns in this country.

We have learnt nothing from the conclusions of the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry, which highlighted the hostility that exists in Malta against activists and journalists.

And the Prime Minister, despite his pledges of strengthening media freedom and the rule of law in Malta, remains numb and passive before all that is happening. Stagno Navarra remains one of the Labour Party TV’s anchors, One News has retained its hateful style of reporting, and Labour MPs continue to defend Mizzi’s arrogance before the country’s highest institution.

Abela says that much has changed over the past two years, but in reality, nothing has changed. Activists and the press are still attacked, corruption still goes un-investigated and the Labour Party still protects those in its fold who should have faced justice a long time ago.