Jean Paul Sofia's parents keep up the pressure for public inquiry

Sean Montebello - 28. June. 2023

Construction collapse victim Jean Paul Sofia’s mother Isabelle Bonnici placed a banner in front of the police headquarters in Floriana protesting the government’s resistance to opening a public inquiry investigating Sofia’s death.

The banner read “Who are you protecting?”, and called for justice for the 20-year-old victim who died last December following the collapse of a building under construction in Kordin, Paola.

A motion tabled by the opposition calling for the launch of a public inquiry will be discussed in Parliament on 6 July. The motion will be heard following the rejection by House Speaker Anġlu Farrugia of previous attempts by the opposition for the issue to be discussed in Parliament.

Sofia’s parents have repeatedly condemned prime minister Robert Abela’s opposition to a public inquiry. In a statement last March, they said full justice means an inquiry into whether “state authorities or representatives failed in their obligation to safeguard his life”.

Sofia was killed at what was to be a timber factory constructed illegally on government property by Serbian contractors and Maltese developers with a criminal past and connections to the Lands Authority.

Several NGOs, public figures, and the opposition have joined the parents’ call for such a public inquiry.

Abela has shot down the requests for a public inquiry into the December 2022 death, stating that “a public inquiry hinders and does not help achieve justice” when answering questions from the press.

An analysis by The Shift published last March showed how Abela’s arguments against a public inquiry mirror those of disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat, who similarly resisted a public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

That public inquiry concluded that the state was responsible for Caruana Galizia’s death by ignoring “real and immediate” risks and cultivating a “culture of impunity” in Malta.

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Thomas

2 years ago

Another example for why the PL is anything but a ‘Socialist’ Party in the sense of a humanitarian stance, which is per se the core of the socialist ideology.

Every time I read articles like this one and see how the PL is handling such matters, I become more disgusted by them. They are only serving their pals and those who creep up to the PL, if they are not already members. Even if that’s the case, I suspect that when one isn’t part of the ‘PL High Society Club’, one gets the same ‘service’, which is a ‘non-service’.

I wonder what keeps the PL to change its name and make it one that matches the truth, like being a greedy a-moral political ‘association’.

Tell one of them die-hard Laburisti that a party that is in government has to serve and take care of all the Maltese citizens, no matter the political affiliation and there is total silence.

Where is the solidarity from the political left in Malta with this family?

The question isn’t addressed to the PL because it would be to no avail. The PL doesn’t count to the political left anymore. They have transferred themselves to some place in a political and extreme-capitalist nirvana.

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Gee Mike

2 years ago

The Police are currently tied up in an important case of chicken poisoning is a Xemxija roundabout. All resourced are dedicated to this case of national importance.

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Joseph Tabone Adami

2 years ago

How could anyone but a simpleton dressed up in copper’s garb consider a grieving mother’s call for justice for her tragically killed son as desacrating the holy railings on the walls of the once-respectable police headquarters?