Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1547077
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 OCTOBER 2026 NEWS Giglio: Mafia association law would prevent organised crime groups INTRODUCING legislation which criminalises mafia as- sociation would deter people from joining such criminal or- ganisations, Opposition justice spokesperson Joe Giglio has said. Interviewed by MaltaToday, the Nationalist MP said in- troducing the law would help people be prosecuted for sim- ply ganging up together in a mafia-type organisation, rather than wait for them to be charged after committing a crime. Giglio's comments come after the legislation was put forward as part of the wider Omnibus Bill presented by the Oppo- sition in the wake of Yorgen Fenech's acquittal as Daphne Caruana Galizia murder mas- termind. Prime Minister Robert Abela has slammed the proposed law, saying such offences will never be enacted into law as long as he was premier. Giglio said he disagreed with Abela's position on the matter. "This is a law that exists in other European countries too, democratic countries that are avant-garde, and I do not think he needs to interpret it that way," he said. The Opposition justice spokesperson was challenged with one of the most promi- nent organised crime cases in recent years – the prosecution and conviction of Maksar crime family members Adrian Agius, Robert Agius and Jamie Vella. He was asked whether the Op- position's bill would have im- pacted the case. He said it would not have, as the crime of supplying the bomb which was eventual- ly used to assassinate Daphne Caruana Galizia, had already been carried out. Giglio argued the legisla- tion would have prevented the group from coming initially coming together to carry out organised crime. "[The law] would criminalise groups of people who exercise power, who have affinities be- tween them, and who may not yet have acted". The introduction of a new mafia association offence was one of several proposals rec- ommended by the inquiry and which were never implement- ed. The Opposition is expected to propose a wide-ranging bill covering the inquiry's recom- mendations. Abela has shot down the pro- posals, saying the "country was not a mafia state". "I have said it before and will say it again that I do not agree with a provision that suggests Malta is a mafia state and as long as I am prime minister it will never be introduced," the prime minister said, pointing his finger at Borg and asking him to go and make his propos- al to the business community. JULIANA ZAMMIT jzammit@mediatoday.com.mt Opposition justice spokesperson Joe Giglio (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)