Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1546037
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 • 2 AUGUST 2026 The godfathers of institutional rot Editorial KEITH Schembri exited court last week holding Paul Strathern's book The Medici – Godfathers of the Renaissance. Billed as the godfathers of the renaissance be- cause they literally bankrolled some of the most important works of art and architecture, the Med- ici were a powerful banking family. They exerted great political power in Florence in the early 15th century. The book was but a detail at the end of Schem- bri's dramatic three-day testimony in the ongoing trial by jury of Yorgen Fenech. We don't know whether Schembri fashions himself as some form of modern-day Medici—a godfather of Malta's post-2013 Labour-led renaissance. But from the witness stand he could not resist outlining how the Muscat administration grew the economy and ensured people had more mon- ey in their pockets. And Schembri's job was "to create wealth", he told jurors. Because Schembri, first and foremost, was a businessperson before being a political person. He valued efficiency, productivity and a can-do attitude that sets key performance indicators and ensures they are achieved. For businesses, the incoming Labour govern- ment of 2013 was a welcome contrast to the stuff- iness and aloofness of the previous administra- tion, where decisions kept being postponed and business ideas scuppered on the altar of procras- tination. The wind of change allowed business confidence to grow, leading to unprecedented economic ex- pansion and wealth creation. As a result, ordinary people had more money in their pocket. But this newfound business mentality at the heart of government—the Office of the Prime Minister—came with its problems. Big prob- lems—and we are not referring to the economic model that has left public infrastructure creaking, communities feeling the brunt of unsocial behav- iour and seeing public spaces being sacrificed for commercial gain. What we are referring to is the institutional rot that set in. Good governance started to feel cumbersome, the rule of law was a nuisance, and enforcement a sin. Fairness was dispensed only to those who had the audacity to speak up and approach the powers that be. In the process more injustices were cre- ated. A climate of impunity started to take root. The closer to the corridors of power one was, the bolder one felt to do as they please. The generation of wealth and the fact that peo- ple were living better masked these underlying ills. The cake kept growing and as long as this allowed people to take bigger or more slices, nothing else mattered. Not even the murder of a journalist. The criminals behind Daphne Caruana Gali- zia's murder felt bold enough to do what they did because they believed it was par for the course; "business as usual". They paused the hit job until the election was over and after the Labour Par- ty was back in power with a strong majority they were told to "get on with it". They believed they could get away with it and when the web start- ed to unravel, they tried to rely on the support of those in power to avoid justice. They almost managed, aided by public officials seduced by the aura of power. But evil has a way of unravelling itself. The testimony coming out of Yorgen Fenech's trial gives credence to the phrase: 'There is no honour among thieves.' We've heard witnesses contra- dicting each other, accusing each other, and some clamming up in silence, evidently fearing retribu- tion. "I used to be mocked as a businessman... My job was to create wealth," Schembri told jurors last week, adding that he had too many responsibili- ties to have time to become involved in the mur- der as Fenech's defence has been suggesting. We may never know the truth but what has be- come evidently clear so far is that Auberge de Castille in the Muscat years was the fulcrum of a renaissance of sleaze, where power, money and criminality blended together seamlessly. From the lawyer who allegedly stood naked in Keith Schembri's office, to a security officer who pranced around with guns in holster and who ac- cidently discharged his firearm in the presence of Michelle Muscat, to the chief of staff posing for a photograph with Melvin Theuma after a meeting in which the latter was given a government job, to Schembri saying he does not know whether he lied to the police, the court testimony reads like a tragicomedy. Unfortunately, the first victim of this sordid state of affairs was Daphne Caruana Galizia, who paid with her life on 16 October 2017. The ongo- ing victim is society that still pays the price of the institutional rot godfathered in Castille during those damning years. MaltaToday 10 years ago Wilful damage to Quran can be consid- ered hate crime - EU expert 3 August 2016 THE desecration of places of worship such as mosques, synagogues, or churches, as well as— depending on the context—publicly displayed religious objects, are both considered serious hate crimes in various EU member states. But although Malta has revoked a law against the vilification of religion, a European policy ex- pert has suggested that the intentional damage to copies of the Quran at Mater Dei Hospital could be penalised as a racist hate crime under the Mal- tese Criminal Code provision on wilful damage to public property (Article 325), coupled with the apparent racist motivation which courts are obliged to take into account (Article 83B of the Maltese Criminal Code). A European policy expert said damage to copies of the Quran at Mater Dei Hospital could be pe- nalised as a racist hate crime under Maltese law. The European anti-racism law and policy ex- pert who spoke to MaltaToday referred to the EU's Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law, whose implementation the EU Commission is currently monitoring in all Member States. "The Framework Decision obliges EU states to penalise 'the intentional public incitement to hatred or violence', commonly known as 'hate speech', on a number of grounds including race, ethnic origin, nationality, and religion. But it also obliges member states to ensure that their legal systems take racist motivation into account in the case of all other crimes—for example, homicide, bodily harm, but also wilful damage to private or public property." [...] The ongoing victim is society that still pays the price of the institutional rot godfathered in Castille during those damning years