Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1536175
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 8 JUNE 2025 The road to justice has only just reached another milestone Editorial THE guilty verdicts delivered by jurors against the Maksar gang—brothers Adrian and Robert Agius, Jamie Vella and George Degiorgio—came as a relief to many. First and foremost, it brought a measure of clo- sure to the relatives of lawyer Carmel Chircop, who was gunned down mercilessly in Birkirkara in 2015; his lifeless body left on the cold concrete floor of his garage. It also brought Daphne Caruana Galizia's family one step closer to justice—the final chapter has still to be written with the trial of Yorgen Fenech. In Daphne's case, Robert Agius and Jamie Vella supplied the bomb that was used to blow up the journalist in October 2017. Jurors did not hesi- tate and delivered an 8-1 verdict. This is consid- ered to be a unanimous verdict. They opted to believe the testimony of star witness Vince Mus- cat, il-Koħħu, and Melvin Theuma. But the guilty verdicts also brought relief to society. The Maksar gang had long operated in the shadows as a criminal organisation with sus- pected links to the mafia in Italy and Albania. And yet, its members enjoyed an upper middle- class lifestyle with all its lavish trappings. They posed as bona fide businesspeople, presenting an acceptable façade that allowed them to operate with impunity for too long. But this gang brought destruction to anyone who crossed its path. Chircop was eliminated because he became an inconvenience when he started bothering Adrian Agius to pay back a €750,000 loan. In Caruana Galizia's case, they supplied the bomb that killed her. Court tes- timony shows that they may have been behind other bombings that characterised the first two decades of the 21st century. Society is today safer with these men behind bars. But while we can collectively breathe a sigh of relief in the knowledge that the criminal justice system has done its job, we must not forget that there is still more to do in the battle against or- ganised crime. The Daphne Caruana Galizia murder case still has one more leg to go—the trial of Yorgen Fenech, accused of commissioning the journal- ist's assassination. Fenech is pleading not guilty and is awaiting trial. There are also several ongoing prosecutions against people who held the reins of power or gravitated around them. These people are facing different charges related to financial crime, in- cluding money laundering, fraud and corruption. They cast a worrying light on how the bounda- ries between politics, business and crime can get muddled up at the expense of the common good, and in Daphne's case, at the expense of journal- ists who dare to probe and seek answers. It is of utmost importance that these cases reach fruition and are prosecuted in the best way possible so that justice is truly served. In a statement after the Maksar trial verdict, the Caruana Galizia family said that although this marked a significant step toward justice, the sys- temic failures that enabled her murder remain unresolved. Indeed, most, if not all, of the recommendations made by the Caruana Galizia public inquiry, re- main unimplemented. New laws are required to enable the police to investigate unexplained wealth and have wider powers to go after organ- ised crime syndicates. Police resources need to be continuously boosted to be in a position to fight sophisticated, multi-layered and cross-bor- der crime. Transparency rules on meetings and personal assets for members of parliament, ministers and top public service officials must be enforceable at law, and publication should be mandatory rather than depend on the goodwill of the prime minister. It is only through public scrutiny that politicians can be held to account. The changes to magisterial inquiries enacted by the current administration that limited the right of ordinary people to ask for a magisterial inquiry into suspected wrongdoing should be re- versed. Notable cases of corruption have ended up in court on the strength of such inquiries. Laws to protect journalists from intimidation and interference, and to strengthen freedom of expression should be enacted. Journalism is the fourth pillar of democracy and it should be rec- ognised as such through constitutional and legal changes. The law regulating financing of political parties must be upgraded to allow the Electoral Com- mission to scrutinise accounts and donation re- ports and take action if necessary. The current constitutional impasse that prevents the com- mission from taking the necessary administra- tive steps to punish wrongdoing is ridiculous. The fight against organised crime requires a broad approach that targets the systemic failures that enable criminals to operate with audacity and perceived impunity, if not outright impunity because those in power choose to close an eye to abuse. Quote of the Week "Power and position demanded better of you. In this key moment, you continue to fail the hundreds of thousands of citizens across Europe who want their representatives to stand up for what is morally right" – An open letter to European Parliament President Roberta Metsola penned by 160 Maltese and Malta- based academics, writers, journalists, artists and activist, calling out her failure to condemn Israel's genocide in Gaza. MaltaToday 10 years ago Inside information likely in Gaffarena property deal 7 June 2015 INSIDE information from a highlyplaced official inside the Government Property Division would have allowed the exact identification of lands that Marco Gaffarena needed for his own personal and business interests, a senior government source has told MaltaToday. But planning parliamentary secretary Michael Falzon has so far resisted calls for an internal in- vestigation into a massive €1.65 million compen- sation to Gaffarena in cash and select land parcels, for half-ownership of a Valletta building housing the government offices of the BICC. Gaffarena originally took ownership of 25% of the Old Mint Street property in 2007 for €23,294, and then bought another 25% for €139,762 in February 2015. Gaffarena was compensated €822,500 in cash and lands in January 2015 for the government's expropriation of his 25%; and then another €822,500 in cash and lands in April 2015 for the other 25% – two months after its purchase. now the Opposition wants an investigation by the Auditor General, particularly demanding whether it was Gaffarena himself who chose the lands granted to him in compensation. "All these lands have a strategic location and val- ue and in one way or another, he has an interest in them, for example touching on lands he already owns, like those in the White Rocks area which are earmarked for the development of hotels." Shadow justice minister Jason Azzopardi de- clared that Gaffarena must have been informed of the government's intention to expropriate the building beforehand, saying the settlement "stinks of corruption." While Falzon has insisted that the deals were regular and that there was "no political hanky panky" involved, it is clear that the lands chosen areintended at benefiting him directly: one of them is in Sliema, where Gaffarena intends building a block of 10 apartments over four sto- reys.