Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1527863
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 OCTOBER 2024 NEWS the Daphne Caruana Galizia legacy murder," Robert said. "I told the people around us that we wer- en't supposed to protest with these people but against them." A second protest was organ- ised on the same day in front of the police depot in Floriana. "I found that more appropri- ate," he said. When he arrived, there was a young girl passing around flyers to people. "This young girl approached me and said, 'I have a few flyers for the protest. If I give you one, will you promise to stick around?'. I said of course, but let's just block the road. It was as if peo- ple forgot how to protest in a certain way. Between the founding of Re- pubblika and the setting up of the Daphne Foundation, Mat- thew Caruana Galizia feels that Malta is more resilient as a country. "Civil society has taken root; it has structured itself." A symbolic battleground A day after her murder, an impromptu memorial was set up on Valletta's Great Siege monument, right in front of the Law Courts. People started to place floral bouquets at the foot of the monument and used the space to grieve and make sense of the matter. However, the memorial al- so became a point of conten- tion – a symbolic battleground between those who wanted to celebrate her memory and those who felt that she did not deserve to be memorialised in such a way. Shortly after the memorial was set up, it kept being re- moved by government work- ers, acting on instructions from above, namely minister Owen Bonnici. In defiance, activists placed the candles, flowers and photos of the dead journalist back on the monument after each clearing. Robert is of the belief that it was not the minister's inten- tion to remove the candles and flowers every night. "I'm cer- tain it wasn't... but this 'mon- ster' they created, this hatred that they allowed to foment against Daphne, came back to haunt them. People reached their conclusions: if Daphne hated Labour and Malta, how can we let a national monu- ment be used in this way?" "I think we weren't in a place to maturely confront this sit- uation because Daphne was dehumanised, and so there was a large section of people who didn't recognise that a living person was killed in a most macabre way. They spent years hearing that Daphne was a witch, and in their subcon- scious, they didn't see Daphne as a person but rather as a trai- tor to the Maltese public." Full justice first Here, Robert places some blame on the two presidents who were in office: Marie Louise Coleiro Preca and lat- er George Vella. He feels that they failed to fulfil their duty as 'moral leaders' because they did not speak out soon enough. Some people have floated the idea of having a more per- manent memorial to Daphne Caruana Galizia. After all, me- morials the world-over are part of the process by which people honour those who have suffered or died. They allow us to exam- ine the past, address conflict, and eventually recover from it. However, Matthew Caruana Galizia feels it is still prema- ture. One cannot move to- wards full recovery without full justice. "For me, before anything like a memorial is considered, we have to approach a situation of full justice. I don't see us being close to that," he said. "It would be possible, and even ideal, to have a physical reminder of what happened, but I think that has to come hand in hand with actual justice." Moreover, Robert is of the opinion that a govern- ment-commissioned memorial for Daphne Caruana Galizia would be dishonest and hypo- critical. Instead, he prefers the improvised memorial for the time being. "That memorial has an ele- ment of protest in it. At a time when we still have main insti- tutions that have been infiltrat- ed by criminal elements, the memorial in front of the Law Courts is more appropriate than to have a monument as if we've finished the fight. A monument would be better at a time when we've made more progress." Changing the narrative It is no secret that Daphne Caruana Galizia was a contro- versial figure, and with reason. But those who revere her as a hero, like Robert, understand that fully – they just don't think one fact doesn't negate the other. "When I say that she was a hero, I don't mean to say that everything she did was perfect. Daphne was a person like you and me. She certainly had her defects, but that doesn't negate someone from being consid- ered a hero," he said. Robert pointed out that some of his own colleagues in ac- tivism had been criticised by Daphne back in the day. "This didn't stop them from fighting for her legacy." Despite the controversy, Daphne is well alive in the col- lective memory. Matthew himself has been approached by many people who say his mother inspired them into action. "Some would tell me: 'I did this thing in my personal life because I was in- spired by your mother'. They wouldn't be things of nation- al importance, but they would be matters of huge individu- al importance; positive and life-changing decisions that were inspired by my mother." Even for Matthew, the mem- ory of his mother is difficult to condense into a single mo- ment. "People are multi-fac- eted. If you give one example, you leave the impression that they were like that all the time, and that there were no other facets." As time passes, as justice is slowly served out for murder and her stories, people begin to look back on Daphne and revise her image in their mind. "People have been discovering that she wasn't the way prop- aganda portrayed her to be," Matthew said. "And I see that as one of our victories." Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered in a car bomb outside her house in Bidnija on 16 October 2017. She was 53. Three men have pleaded guilty for placing and detonating the bomb, while two others are facing charges for procuring the explosive. A sixth person is awaiting trial for contracting the assassination.