70th vigil held in Caruana Galizia’s remembrance, first since mother’s death

A vigil for truth and justice in remembrance of Daphne Caruana Galizia was held on Wednesday night, marking 70 months since the journalist was brutally assassinated in Bidnija in 2017. It was also the first vigil held since Caruana Galizia’s mother, Rose Vella, passed away on 5 August.

Repubblika Vice President Alessandra Dee Crespo said it is “an immense injustice that Vella did not get to see full justice carried out for her daughter within her lifetime”.

Crespo was joined by lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia and Repubblika Executive Committee member Vicki Ann Cremona, who spoke at the vigil held at Great Siege Square in front of the Courts of Justice.

She noted how Mrs Vella would attend the vigils, protests, and mass celebrations in Daphne’s honour as much as her health would permit it and thanked her “for the dignified example she set… showing us the way especially when it was steeper than usual, offering us courage”.

She concluded her speech by saying that civil society was “the seed of resistance,” and that despite the efforts of those fighting against justice “a seed can only be planted not buried”.

In her speech, Repubblika’s Vicki Ann Cremona posed questions to those in attendance. She asked “Are our leaders inspiring to us and our children? Do they offer us values and models which we can rely on as examples of moral conduct?”

Lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia said that Daphne’s death was a turning point in the fight for “a normal country”. She noted how the journalists and editors that continued working along the tracks of Caruana Galizia’s investigations were “called story spinners, sellers of fake news, and dismissed”.

She said the “demand for a normal country and consequently for a better than normal country is far bigger than any politician,” dismissing partisanship and party politics. “our actions are based on shaping Daphne’s legacy, which is a legacy of hope for Malta, and consequently hope for us.”

She spoke about the power that civil society has in shaping the future of Malta, noting the public’s efforts in supporting Jean Paul Sofia’s family’s call for a public inquiry, which was ultimately acceded to.

Comodini Cachia asked why Abela’s government has not yet implemented the recommendations of the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry, asking whether “the Prime Minister and the cabinet members find it so difficult to implement these recommendations because they do not want to eradicate that very mentality which the Board found to be what feeds the arrogance of those enjoying political and economic power”.