The family members of Raymond Caruana received a government document addressed to the man who was killed in an act of political violence during some of Malta’s darkest times 39 years ago inviting him for a health screening – something which Raymond’s nephew described as being deeply disrespectful.

The document – an invitation for a health screening from the government’s Primary HealthCare department – was shared to social media by Stefan Caruana, who is the nephew of Raymond Caruana and also a local councillor for the Nationalist Party in Gudja.

Raymond Caruana was murdered in a drive-by shooting on Gudja’s Nationalist Party club on 5 December 1986 which is believed to have been politically motivated. The case has never been officially solved, but remains one of the darkest days of Malta’s political history.

“This is a government which doesn’t know what it is doing.  A government with no respect and with no shame,” Stefan Caruana wrote when he shared the document.

“They took uncle Raymond from us 39 years ago.  All of Malta knows, except for the government it seems. 39 years after he was killed, they’ve sent him a letter for a medical screening,” he said.

“Stop hurting our family and loved ones. Rest in peace uncle Raymond,” he wrote.

In a statement on social media on Monday evening, Primary HealthCare said that it wishes to apologize unreservedly with Caruana’s family. “Our words will sound fruitless and will not assuage Mr Caruana’s family’s terrible loss,” the department said.

“However, please allow us to clarify that Mr. Caruana’s name was not flagged as deceased in our current Primary HealthCare database. This is due to historical limitations: Malta’s electronic death registration system was only introduced in the early 1990s. Prior to that, particularly for deaths that occurred outside hospital settings, records were typically handled through court or police channels and not always integrated into the centralized health system,” the department said.

“Our national screening programme is designed to be as inclusive as possible. As such, automatic invitations are sometimes sent even to individuals with expired identity documentation, in an effort not to overlook any potential beneficiaries of preventive care services,” it concluded.