Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/919364
maltatoday SUNDAY 24 DECEMBER 2017 News 7 youth succeeded in setting a high standard for spectator Pyrrhic victories. No, 2017 was a year for dark and frankly, upsetting, court stories. Despite the successes in the fight against drug traffick- ing, other stories - from proper- ty developer Charles Polidano's €100,000 fine for regulatory breaches being reduced by 90%, to an innocent bystander being killed in a botched murder at- tempt, to the woman impris- oned in a cave by her husband, the year was a bad one for law and order. Nowhere does this show more clearly than with the execution of journalist and blogger – and government bête noir – Daph- ne Caruana Galizia. The silenc- ing of the government's and, at one brief point, the Opposi- tion's, most prolific and vocal critic sent shockwaves around the world and has left many in the journalistic profession looking over their shoulder. Less than comforting is the fact that, despite the impres- sive investigation that led to the arraignment of three men sus- pected of involvement in her killing, police sources say they are no closer to finding out who commissioned the murder – a fact not lost on many despite the fanfare surrounding the ar- raignment. 2018 may well prove to be a pivotal year for keeping the public's faith in the rule of law from disappearing completely, an eventuality which would itself bring about the collapse of this civilising trait and con- sequences which are truly un- thinkable. A concerned public and press will both be keeping their gaze fixed on the courts next year, waiting and hoping. Romeo Bone survived a car bomb explosion in Msida but lost both his legs. His criminal record suggests this was an act of gangland vendetta The mystery that still shocks Malta: the hired car used by Daphne Caruana Galizia lies in the field in Bidnija where it stopped after the journalist was killed in a car bomb. Three men have been charged with the murder but the public is still demanding answers as to who commnissioned the assassination Aaron Cassar (photographed inside car) was one of three people thought to have been involved in an attempted arson attack on a residence, which left co-conspirator Sylvester Farrugia (inset), 25, dead after being gunned down in Marsa. The three men are believed to have attempted to set fire to the residence of Deniro Magri, but Farrugia's body was found in another part of Marsa after the attack. Magri, 27, is pleading self-defence to charges of wilful homicide