Oh gosh, look – it's the policeman who forced me to sign a false confession
The man who would be prime minister
What memories are brought back by this picture of Anglu Farrugia, now deputy leader of the Labour Party and the man who is thrusting himself forward as deputy prime minister – if not actually THE prime minister if he can get Joseph Muscat, who seems increasingly wet and weak, out of the way. Memories of:
1. being picked up from work by this man in plain clothes, who had first gone to my home and not found me there;
2. being held in a pitch-black cell with a solid metal door and no air vents, with faeces on the walls and a bucket for a lavatory, by this man for 27 hours;
3. being denied the right, by this man, to ring my parents and tell them where I was (they guessed; it was 1984);
4. not being given food or water and, when I called the guard to say that I was going to pass out with hunger, being given an cold-egg sandwich, plonked down straight in the dust – one sandwich in 27 hours;
5. being kept in permanent pitch-darkness for 27 hours, except for the times when I was woken up during the night and taken out of my cell to be interrogated by this man;
6. being asked the same questions and told to say the same things, over and over again by this man, and repeatedly refusing to say what he wanted me to say, then being returned to my cell;
7. being told by this man that he had photographs of me committing crimes and me telling him that there must be some mistake, because I had committed no crime, and would he please show me these photographs (he couldn’t, because they didn’t exist);
8. being told by this man that I had assaulted a police officer and telling him, in my naivete, that he had been wrongly informed, that it was the police officer who had assaulted me, that he had picked me up by the throat, punched me in the chest and flung me backwards into the crowd, and that there were several witnesses who had come to my assistance;
9. being interrogated again by this man after 27 hours of incarceration with barely any sustenance, water or sleep, and finding him poised over a typewriter ready to type my statement and then, when I refused to say – yet again – what he wanted me to say, seeing him type it anyway then hand it to me for my signature;
10. being told by this man that if I didn’t sign the confession he had written, I would be returned to my cell and kept there until necessary;
11. remembering, while faced with this man and his illegal demands, how I had read somewhere that confessions obtained under duress and by threat are null and void;
12. signing the false confession that this man had written, and emerging from behind the notorious high gate of the old depot, after being released by this man, to find my father, with his lawyer, who had been waiting outside but who were told nothing except that I had ‘committed a crime’;
13. going straight home to take a hot bath and wash off the stench of this man, his cell and his interrogation room, and then straight to my notebooks to write down every single bit of my experience so that I could relate it under oath in court;
14. being arraigned by this man on several charges including assaulting a police officer and a priest;
15. watching this man proudly produce in court the confession he had written and I had signed, while hundreds – thousands? – of people gathered outside the law courts in a demonstration of anger and support;
16. seeing this man go ballistic when the magistrate threw his case out with a resounding Not Guilty and stern words of reprimand for the way things had been done;
17. watching with incredulity as this man became a protege of the incoming minister of justice in 1987, then a lawyer (when he can’t write or spell either language), then a Labour MP, then a candidate for the party leadership with a view to becoming prime minister, then deputy leader of the Labour Party, still with a view to becoming its leader and prime minister of Malta.
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Whoa. Damn…
Is it possible to post the statement you were forced to sign under such abominable circumstances? The syntax and spelling should reveal who really wrote it.
[Daphne – Not necessarily, because the typing is always done by the interrogating officer, so you get their syntax a lot of the time, and their spelling always.]
It’s like looking a photo of a wanted Nazi SS officer – again, I’m sickened.
”permezz tal-istess tattakka lill-kwerelant minghajr kwariter f’ ezercizju ta’ gurnalizmu militesk u dan, bil-ghan
uniku u preciz li ttellef u tnaqqas ir-reputazzjoni tieghu;”
Reputation? What reputation?
Hallina sur magistrat, iddahaqx nies bik.
“bil-ghan uniku u preciz li ttellef u tnaqqas ir-reputazzjoni tieghu”
I noticed that too. What proof of the stated motive was there?
When wild, ferocious, thuggish animals emerge from the jungle, aren’t they kept in cages?
Not this one. He’s known for making ferocious speeches in public. He said so himself on his website writing, of course, in the third person.
I remember and will never forget those scary days.
You couldn’t be more precise in describing the nightmare.
Your experience, Daphne, had struck me viscerally at the time. It is finely etched in my memory as it must be in the consciousness of all those who lived through the horrible pre-1987 years.
I find it so incomprehensible that after so many years of PN administrations things are basically the same at the Police Headquarters. At least, that is my perception. Why is it that we still have nothing in place that comes even a little bit close to the Miranda rights of the USA?
The case which was decided against you this week is nothing short of disgusting. Our courts put the onus of responisbility on the individual to prove his or her case where as things stand there is no way of proving something which one experienced directly and testifies to under oath.
This problem re-surfaced recently in the case of the Sliema ex-mayor. With your experience finely placed in my mind I immediately sided with the individual and not with the police.
If the situation remains as it is I will always uphold the individual against the institution. This is the priniciple I have adopted because of your case and that of others pre-1987.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I felt that during the Sliema mayor conundrum I expected you to root for him not because we were convinced that what he said was correct and that the police were lying. But it was a good time to attack the system as it presently exists. Can you imagine people going through the same experiences as you did in the not so distant future? I certainly can with Labour back at the helm.
[Daphne – Root for him? Definitely not. The crucial difference, which you miss, between my case and his is that mine was one of arbitrary arrest for a falsified crime, with serious abuse during detention and interrogation. They had no case against me or reason to suppose there was one. With the Sliema mayor, the police had definite grounds for interrogation and arrest. There are other persons I know of who were asked for cuts on deals, but they have no interest in coming forward to report him. We are speaking here of a man with a very expensive cocaine habit which he had to find ways of paying for. I was just a 19-year-old girl at a protest demo. I take serious exception to the comparison. I do feel sorry for him, yes – because he is 31 years old and his life is in such a mess that he needs to go underground for a while and retrench, rethink his life and his values.]
Cannot Resist Anymore, you must be living on the moon if you really (I doubt it) think that the situation today is “basically the same” as during the Mintoff regime. Daphne’s treatment at the hands of Anglu Farrugia explains why Fenech Adami used to warn us not to trust the police.
What a piece of work he was – and is.
The above photo and listed memories should start the rounds as an email so that they can reach as many readers as possible and especially those who do not visit this site. They clearly show what the Maltese electorate will get if it doesn’t vote PN, out of spite or boredom, or votes Labour just for change (for the worse).
Yesterday’s decision by the magistrates’ court is a short-term victory for the PL as it clearly shows that their past still haunts them.
The return on the political scene, in force, of people who were prominent at the time of the Labour regime exposes us to how they will govern if elected. These people never change because their party in ingrained in hatred.
We, who lived through the 16 years of that regime under ‘is-salvatur ta’ Malta’ and his annointed successor, should never stop recounting our experiences. We should not allow them to rewrite history the way it suits them.
Incredulous … what is most incredible though, is the fact that although I’ve never doubted the veracity of what Daphne is saying, and the same with thousands of others, the magistrate had the cheek to argue that Daphne’s story has somehow tarnished the reputation of yet this first one in the league of cops-turned lawyers. The CHEEK!
The Nationalist Party could have a field day at the coming election, were it not staffed by unimaginative suits.
On second thoughts, maybe it would have been better if he became Labour leader in 2003. By now, he would have been consigned to history. Or else, he would have become prime minister in 2008, but by now, the country would have re-elected a PN government within less than 22 months from the 2008 elections.
Allow me to remind you, yet again, that it is not the electorate who decides the length of the legislature. So “the country” cannot decide to re-elect a PN government if an MLP government fucks up, unless there is an election.
Keep in mind that even Alfred Sant could have governed for the rest of his term following the events in 1998. Hell, there are even some ostensibly reasonable Labour figures, such as Lino Spiteri, who never miss a chance to tell us how they gave Sant exactly that advice and how the election then proved them right. And in the next breath they tell us how they always wanted to get into the EU you know….
[Daphne – I think you mean George Abela.]
1998 was a fluke, probably never to be repeated. Certainly not this time round, where Labour is obsessed with its one and only goal of getting into power, and staying there.
This “naghtu tbezbiza lill-PN” is total bollocks. If you want to chide the PN, then speak up. Even within the party itself, there are many who would rather play Chinese whispers and slag off the PN on a Saturday night at some “vinoteca”, rather than stand up like men and articulate their thoughts.
All the while, our newspapers are filled with reams of print on “Miss Tiff” and diatribes against divorce. Our idea of dissent is backstabbing. Our idea of criticism is honking at the bar with one’s mates.
Vision 2015? Like f….
I was under the impression that Lino Spiteri also advised Alfred Sant against going to the polls.
[Daphne – He might have done. But he was long gone from the cabinet by then. He was the first to resign – in early 1997 in the midst of the CET debacle, as I recall.]
H. P. Baxxter for Prime Minister.
HP, mine was just a thought.
By the time Alfred Sant decided to go to the polls in September 1998, any advice from Lino Spiteri to Sant would have been published in The Sunday Times for the PN to see, because the two men had gone separate ways.
As Daphne said, it was George Abela who went as far as resigning because Sant did not follow his advice to stay in power.
As you point out, I too am not sure whether the mechanisms of internal criticism in the PN are functioning freely. I hope John Dalli was not right in this respect.
[Daphne – John Dalli is the ex girlfriend in the room, telling everyone that the new girlfriend is a slag. How hard is that to see.]
I understand, Ciccio, and my outburst wasn’t directed at you.
You ask a very valid question about internal criticism within the PN. I base my answer from what I observed as an outsider involved in some aspects of policy: Yes, the mechanism is there. It’s just not being used.
Think about it. From teenage to old age, there are myriad structures within the party: MZPN, Anzjani PN or whatever it’s called, SDM, the party executive, district committees and so on. More importantly, and most Maltese politicians seem to forget this, there are the media. Vast acres of freely-available space for debate, criticism, formulation of policy and putting forward of proposals. This is simply not being used.
It’s not that people are afraid. It’s that they’ve grown fat and comfortable. And with comfort comes a dulling of the mind.
New ideas are being nipped in the bud by the very people who should be promoting them. In keeping with the Maltese way of thinking, there is no strategy. Strategy isn’t some word to be used in a cool film script when the actors quote Sun Tzu. Ask any successful entrepreneur about his method and you’ll be sure to hear this word.
Ever heard or read a word from MZPN about political strategy? Granted that Maltese “youths’ ” interests are limited to loans, university, jobs and cars. But heck, the level of debate within a party shouldn’t be set by the rednecks. The leaders and thinkers formulate strategy, which is then explained to the masses and turned into concrete action.
During that phase of formulation of strategy, it is every party member’s duty to put forward any objections and counter-arguments. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.
In Maltese politics, strategy is all but nonexistent. Policies are made on the fly, and are usually rearguard actions in response to the opposing party’s attacks. The masses are then fed confusing information, with no proper preparation, and at the slightest sign of discontent, the Nationalist government backs down or modifies its plans. Credibility lost. Time and money lost. Points gained by the opposition.
This is no way to do politics, god damn it. And I’ve told this to some PN bigwigs in so many words, only to be brushed aside with the standard reply about “il-progetti li qed inwettqu.”
But then I have nothing to lose, and I’ve always worn my heart on my sleeve.
When de Marco died, the most common phrase was: This is the end of an era. PN is no longer what it was. And so on and so forth.
I never knew de Marco. Nor Fenech Adami. But I’ve seen them in action. It seems to me that what is lacking in today’s PN is that strategic vision and the ability to bring people over to your side. Before 1987 there was the objective of a stable democratic country with a strong economy. Then came the EU, the single most important step this country has ever taken. The Nationalist Party handled the process brilliantly. We wouldn’t have joined in 2004, and adopted the Euro in 2008, if it hadn’t.
Now there’s the very real and pressing objective of raising our living standards and our GDP to European levels. Is it being communicated effectively? I think not. Is the strategy, and the tactics used to achieve it, being debated within and outside the party. Nope. We have sniping, not debate. And if the Labour Party thinks its constant negation of anything government says constitutes an alternative strategy or alternative policies, it is deluding itself. Come 2013, Joseph Muscat will enter Castille and not have a clue what hit him. He’ll be like a spoilt little boy in a toy shop. And like that little boy, he’ll have his fun, but he sure won’t have a business plan for the shop.
Eddie Fenech Adami was very fond of the word “fiducja”. Current PN members would do well to adopt the slogan of “kuragg”. Political courage. The courage to speak the truth to your colleagues, your superiors, and to the electorate. The courage to stick to your strategy, being flexible in your tactics as long as you reach your aim. And above all, the intellectual courage to speak your mind, and tell your fellow party members precisely where you think they’re wrong.
Malta isn’t exactly the epicentre of Athenian dialectic, but we did join the EU, and it’s time we started behaving like Europeans.
As for me becoming prime minister, “f’dan l-istadju ma neskludi xejn”, as the saying goes. But would you want another unmarried prime minister? (Although I’m sure the fillies will be knocking on the doors of Auberge de Castille with their knickers in their handbags once I take that oath. Hell, I might even land a current supermodel and outdo Sarko.)
Baxxter,
In my view, any party or organisation needs to maintain a business development unit which creates, receives and stimulates ideas, and then formulates them, or integrates them with, strategy and vision.
I believe that Vision 2015 was the subject of a PN party conference in May, and we are now in October, and I do not have any idea what has happened since.
Vision is for the long haul, not for five years. We should be thinking in terms of 50 years. That covers the remaining life, based on average life expectancy, of the youngest voter today. Then it should work backwards, in spans of 10 years, and 25 years, to the present, with specific targets and objectives.
Fifty years is too far in the future for a national strategy. It’s already hard to look a few months ahead. But 5-15 years is the norm.
As it happens, I know quite a bit about Vision 2015 and I can tell you that the Nationalist Party and the government need to reverse their recruitment policy.
They’ve got total numpters on their payroll, who just got there because they have connections and standard qualifications. The sort who can spend a whole day at a conference, then get up a make a speech, the same speech at every conference.
And you know they’ve transformed what is being said into what THEY wanted to hear. Then they re-transmit the message to Gonzi, and long live the status quo.
On the other side, out in the wilderness, you have real talent being wasted because these people were never part of the SDM-UOM-MZPN-Enterprise Malta-Kunsill Lokali circuit.
That May conference featured the usual line-up: Peter (yawn) Serracino Inglott, Joe ‘Peppi’ Azzopardi, ‘Fr’ Joe Borg, Ugo Mifsud Bonnici…. very forward-looking, indeed. All pontificating to an audience of PN geriatrics.
Baxxter, I agree with most of what you say, but I beg to disagree on the period of strategy and vision. From my experience overseas, I noticed how many countries all around the globe are now benefitting from the investments and decisions they made in the post-war period.
They used that period to rebuild infrastructure and institutions which are serving them right now. Some objectives cannot be achieved in a short period of 10 years, so one needs a longer term. And many projects need to be designed with the longer term in mind.
The reason for my 50 years is that I believe that we need to plan ahead to build a country that serves our 18-20 year olds – being our youngest voters – over their life horizon. Then, the country will be left to the younger generations.
Of course, one needs to revise the vision and strategy every 10 years or so, as society and other factors change.
Now, while on this, I do not believe that the vision is everything. But we should expect a clear vision from our leaders, as you mentioned before about Fenech Adami and Guido Demarco.
I think H P Baxxter has hit the nail on the head (pardon the cliche!). Although I am not sure that the party ever had a strategy. Being made up, in the main, of lawyers, who can barely manage their zip let alone a small country like ours, I am not sure they ever understood strategy. Aims yes, strategy no.
Luckily for us and for himself Fenech Adami surrounded himself with people who damn well understood strategy. Richard Cachia Caruana, Peter Serracino Inglott (you may yawn, but the man had a way of focusing the discussion), Louis Galea and later on Joe Saliba, amongst others, were totally focused on that area.
Fenech Adami had the political antennae, but he also had the wisdom to surround himself with practical strategists.
Lawrence Gonzi is, unfortunately, deficient in both political acumen and intelligent strategists. Having had dealings with him and his cohorts I was shocked, as much as surprised, at the total lack of depth of thought.
The frankly uncultured outlook and the sense that he had no game plan, or rather that the game plan he had was created from his own very limited tunnel vision without the required research. I was also shocked on a purely political strategy level just how naive he was and how one can predict his every political move.
Admittedly, Fenech Adami could also be naive when it came to seeing the bigger picture, as when he equated everyone buying cars and air-conditioning with a sign of prosperity instead of aiming towards a clean-air society by introducing a good public transport system, which would have saved the country a large amount of money going out and gave R & D a central position in the strategy. On such lack of vision are unintended consequences created.
Lawrence Gonzi’s sole strategy seems to be to tell everyone how good he is and to keep on asking why is it that no one believes him. He still hasn’t come to terms with the fact that he really didn’t win the elections, rather Alfred Sant lost it for Labour.
Ultimately, it is this rudderless thinking (can anyone really explain what this Vizjoni 2015 is all about?) which is pushing people towards Labour. It is the fact that Gonzi is trying to bluff his way, and people can see through the bluff. Labour will not win the next election, but the election is the Nationalist Party’s to lose.
If I had to sum up, I’d say that Gonzi is trying to go the way of the Emirates: impress the people with big construction projects.
That is not the way it’s done in Europe.
As for his advisors and assorted hangers-on, they’re still obsessed with the “Singapore success story”, which is complete bullshit. It’s like sitting through an economics class in the 1970s.
The younger party leeches are no better. Reactionary to a man and more concerned with flaunting the latest touchscreen phone and the largest Rolex.
As Mickey Goldmill said to Rocky, there is no hunger in their eyes.
Gonzi has an incredible knack for not recognising incompetence.
Dear Daphne
May the good Lord help you, so the truth comes out. There are three things that cannot be long hidden:
The Sun
The Moon
And the truth
Many will remember the ASSP, which was formed specifically during the schools’ crisis, to campaign against the government’s decision to close them down.
At meetings, we were briefed as to what we should do if we were ever arrested and interrogated by the police. We were young people who had no intention of committing a crime, but in those days, you were arrested for opposing the regime and standing up for basic human rights. Such were the times.
I have only one question for Magistrate Silvio Meli: How is it possible for Daphne (or any other person, for that matter) to give such an enormous amount of detail, repeat it for many years without changing an iota from the description and not tell the truth?
[Daphne – More to the point: what would have been my interest in lying? Let me try to follow this line of reasoning: I concocted a story in 1984 because I somehow predicted that 20 years later, the police inspector who interrogated me would be standing for election as leader of the Labour Party, and I would be able to use that cunningly foreseen story against him. So now they think I’m a seer.]
Heqq, some witches have a crystal ball hux. Bhall-Witch of Endor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3n-U9mHfaA
This man acquired the forma mentis of a policeman, and thus he will remain till he dies. It is a deformation professionnelle which has now become his shell, and he will never get out of it, like one of those small crabs which inhabit our shores.
Like a crab, Anglu Farrugia walks backwards. He starts from illusory conclusions and works back to imaginary premises.
People should understand the serious and very real threat he poses to our serenity. The man is not only a megalomaniac but an incurable policeman. Would it be too much to say he’d turn Malta into a police state?
Then under the weak, effeminate premiership of Joseph Muscat this Macho Policeman would not only walk backward, but take us back to the 80s.
I have always maintained that the PN’s finest hour was the pre 1987 election period.
Since then the party under Fenech Adami and Gonzi has been slowly but surely on the decline and the road to ruin.
If not, how can anyone explain that this Stasi Commandant will soon be the country’s deputy prime minister or, in a worst case scenario, prime minister?
If post 1987 had been managed in a professional and just manner, this creep would have been reformed at Corradino and suitably reintegrated into civilised society.
Fenech Adami wanted riconciljazzjoni. This is what we got as a result.
Big deal.
It looks like the ‘rikonciljazzjoni nazzjonali’ was pursued at the expense of the real victims of Labour thuggery and police violence, while the real beneficiaries were Lorry Sant himself, Piju Camilleri, l-ispettore, and all the henchmen who hovered around these thugs.
Didn’t Carmen Sant sue Piju Camilleri to take ‘her’ property back from him?
@ P Shaw
Yes she did after waking up one fine day and finding a bulldozer in her back garden. It was sent by Piju claiming the land to be his. Stealing from the widow of the man who got him from rags to riches. Just imagine what he is capable of doing to us.
How right you are, Daphne.
I once had to sign a letter in which I promised that from then on I would do nothing to try and bring down the government which had been ‘democratically elected by the people of Malta’.
This was in return for being given back the job from which I was fired because I took a day’s sick leave on one infamous 29th of June (Mnarja).
I didn’t have much choice other than to sign the horrid letter even though I would gladly have done anything in my power to bring down the government.
We were offered our job back as a ‘Labour Party favour’ handout on Mintoff’s birthday.
Do people really think that our only concerns at the time were a lack of digestible chocolate and toothpaste?
I was also sacked on that day for having taken a day off work in protest. The Labour Party had got into government with more seats than the Nationalist Party and fewer votes, and our protest was not to ransack some government building, nor was it to emulate the arsonists from the dockyard, but to take a day off work to show our disgust at the Labour thugs who were governing our country against the wish of the majority of Maltese voters.
I still have the letter I was made to sign on the 10th August 1982, a letter replete with threats of “pieni l-aktar serji” if ever I dared protest again. I still remember the faces of those lifeless disgusting lackeys present for my signature as well as that of my colleagues.
That letter was returned to me with a covering letter from Prime Minister Fenech Adami on the 26th June 1987. “….qed nibghatlek ma’ din l-ittra id-dikjarazzjoni li int kontra l-volonta tieghek kellek tiffirma f’dawk il-granet.”
No wonder the Labour Party has spent a generation in opposition.
Malta Today : 17th February, 2002
Solving the Lino Cauchi mystery
It is incredible; corruption and crime have simply never become an issue in Malta, if they ever had done, then the Labour party should have disbanded in 1987.
Better still, if the corruption and crime of the 80’s had been partly addressed and solved we would have had words of praise. But we do not.
But all we can say is that the inquiry and conclusions about corruption have only proved just how grossly incompetent the executive has been.
The past is irrelevant to many younger people, but we cannot forget that in 1982 an accountant by the name of Lino Cauchi disappeared, was murdered, frozen and then cut into pieces and dumped in a well (years later).
We cannot look the other way when we know a magisterial inquiry on the case, the second inquiry of its kind, has been concluded and the key people who could shed light on the case were dealt with in an ineffectual way.
When Lino Cauchi disappeared, he was working as an accountant for Mr Piju Camilleri.
Mr Piju Camilleri has been and still is indicated in several corruption scandals. He was also involved in beating up people in a savage way. He was the late Lorry Sant’s right hand man.
Mr Camilleri is not someone you can easily trust. And it is unfortunate that some Labour parliamentarians are still hovering around to the man in a professional and social way.
When people fell foul of the likes of Mr Camilleri, Alfred Sant, then President of the Labour Party, could only describe these critics as ‘enemies of the worker’.
When Lorry Sant was minister he had the reputation of a Latin American feudal lord.
When Lino Cauchi disappeared, Mr Lorry Sant was interior minister.
The police who investigated the case at the time did not interrogate Mr Camilleri. It would have been normal procedures to have done so, considering that Lino Cauchi was Mr Camilleri’s accountant and knew certain things because of his position.
The police inspector who led the investigations was Dr Anglu Farrugia, then Inspector Farrugia.
Today he is a lacklustre Labour deputy, at the time he was one of the most faithful acolytes of the former convicted Commissioner of Police, Dr Lawrence Pullicino.
His investigations into the case led nowhere.
We shall not proceed with more comments here, lest the overzealous and sensitive MLP parliamentarian contrives a vexatious libel action against us as he has done before.
Mr Camilleri was well known to act on Lorry Sant’s behalf.
He was a works manager at the works department and he played a key role as to when, which and what permits were issued.
He also dabbled in the sale and resale of plots. And his methods were far from conventional or acceptable. They have been described in detail in numerous magisterial inquiries.
He became a tycoon, driving a Ferrari and owning rich and diverse properties. Worse still, he was a façade for Lorry Sant.
In 1982, the police did not investigate Mr Piju Camilleri.
Today, the police after having been presented with the conclusions of a new inquiry, have questioned him.
But it has been a feeble attempt.
This government has not taken the fight against corruption seriously enough.
Magistrates Scicluna (before) and Meli (now) should be commended for having called for a widening of the scope of the case.
This government has not broken any records in the fight against crime.
The case of Raymond Caruana and others can be cited as examples.
It is high time that the government confronts the issues here and rallies the executive arm to uncover the truth and bring the vile culprits to justice.
http://www.doi.gov.mt/en/commentaries/2002/02/mat17.asp
“The police inspector who led the investigations was Dr Anglu Farrugia, then Inspector Farrugia. Today he is a lacklustre Labour deputy, at the time he was one of the most faithful acolytes of the former convicted Commissioner of Police, Dr Lawrence Pullicino.”
Anglu Farrugia should upload this glowing description on http://www.anglufarrugia.org
Daphne, can you please write a new post (even a short one) so that we won’t have to look at Gadget’s picture, before we go to sleep?
Maryanne, did you sleep at all last night?
Taf meta ma torqodx, Ciccio – meta jitla’ l-PL fil-gvern, ghax nergghu nigu lura ghall-80s.
OK Daphne, I know you have no qualms about pointing fingers at dead people. I do. The living one was the head of the executive. He could have had his way. He did not, so I blame him.
[Daphne – I do have qualms about pointing fingers at dead people. If I didn’t, I would have named all the names and not just Camilleri’s, and given far more explicit detail. But now, who cares? Something should have been done about it in 1987, and it wasn’t, because things were too new and there was too much to get to grips with and Fenech Adami had to appease/control his no. 2 in much the same way that Gonzi has had to appease/control Dalli. You throw them stuff so that they don’t turn around and bite you in the ass – and guess what, they still do. There weren’t any EU Commissionerships to dispatch people to in those days, so appeasement would have had to take other forms, and too damn bad that the No. 1 was naive (yes, really) and the No. 2, through his profession, knew all the best criminals and all the worst policemen.]
Our choices are never good or bad – mostly we have to put up with the better of two evils. Fenewch Adami had to have Guido by his side to get rid and control of most of the corrupt lot.
[Daphne – Actually, Demarco’s prescence ensured the opposite.]
It is an open secret that No. 2 befriended a lot of people through other circles, apart from his profession.
How would Fenech Adami exercised control of the police and the SAG/SMU in 1987? He couldn’t just kick everybody out when Mifsud Tommasi’s men ‘let him down’, for example, or when the ‘Copper Mountain’ was commandeered by drydocks workers and towed across the mouth of Grand Harbour to prevent the HMS Brazen entering – or when a bus full of Austrian tourists was machine-gunned, or when he and Demarco faced gunfire at a wedding in Zejtun.
Taking control of a situation takes a lot of time and has to be gradual. Fenech Adami needed the same police who threw tear gas at him at Tal-Barrani.
Sadly, what you say is very true.
And now his daughter is continuing his work with the best criminals, worst policemen and bent magistrates. North Korea all over.
@Daphne
I do believe that you are defending Fenech Adami for not keeping his word, on his former legendary slogan; (Xoghol, Gustizzja, Liberta) back in those dark and dismal years. Whatever happened to ‘Gustizzja’?
Do you mean to say, that Fenech Adami sold his soul to the ‘devil’, thus denying justice to take its course on those f**king bastards?
Because that’s what they were, Daph…. f**king bastards. You are not the only person who had it tough-going with those scum of the earth.
I always yearned for that day to come. Visualising time and again that most of the M.L.P. henchmen (of that time), would be brought in, handcuffed, manhandled by the crowd present who had suffered terribly under these bastards, and under the camera lens of the then Xandir Malta. Alas it was not to be, was it!
[Daphne – I am not defending him. I am merely explaining the way I saw the situation then and in retrospect, with all I have learned since. As for the scenario you describe, I cannot concur. We live under the rule of law, not barbarism. Even Nazi war criminals were properly tried. Those who broke the law by violating the rights and property of others before 1987 got away with it for one reason only: that they were not arrested and interrogated on the spot. What evidence can you bring to bear against somebody who helped burn The Times with its staff still inside, eight years after the event? Who was going to testify to seeing individuals in that crowd – the police, those who were doing the sacking and burning with them, who? Yes, there were known thugs, but you cannot put somebody on trial for being a known thug. You put him on trial for a specific crime. This was the problem. Lorry Pullicino wreaked havoc with the police force and with the rule of law in this country, but in the end, they could get him only on a specific crime, and that was the murder of Nardu Debono. It was the same with Lorry Sant. Do you remember the hue and cry when he was given an official pardon by the state? He was pardoned when he hadn’t even been found guilty of anything. I remember objecting to that pardon most forcefully, and being told that it was a question of strategy. Specific evidence against him was too difficult to find or prove because he had fronts and the fronts were criminals and liars. The risk of putting him on trial and having him declared Not Guilty was huge – imagine if that had happened. So he was given a pardon, which he accepted, and that in itself was a declaration by the state that he was a guilty man, and an admission by Sant that indeed he was. I really don’t share anyone’s desire for retribution. I’m not a French revolution peasant with a pitchfork or a shariah-law type of person. I am very firm in my view, though, that people who are unfit for purpose should not hold public office.]
@Daphne
‘I remember objecting to that pardon most forcefully, and being told that it was a question of strategy.’
I apologise, as I was ignorant to the fact that you had protested against the pardon.
@H.P. Baxxter
After your reply to Ciccio, we have no option but to vote for you and make you prime minister. But until the time comes, you should start by issuing an invoice to the PN for the advice you just gave them.
Do be careful, though, because even Marisa must be fearing for her job, right now.
Funny how Kev and Co never write in to comment on (or deny) any of our claims of government-sponsored corruption and police brutality that occurred daily pre-1987.
Is it because you have decided not to upload these people’s comments after all the recent hate-mails you were receiving, or are they keeping quiet because they know that these things actually happened?
Reading your piece brought back vivid memories of the many (5 or 6) times that I was arrested in similar circumstances as you were and probably locked in the same cell at the ‘Depot’.
You were lucky to have been detained for only 27 hours. I was always kept for the whole 48.
Luckily, I was never beaten up but I did witness a young man being beaten to a pulp (in broad daylight) by two plain-clothes ‘policemen’ in the car park at the back of the building while I was being escorted to the inspector’s office from my cell.
I was petrified when I saw that man’s face, which was swollen and covered in blood. I thought that it was my turn next.
The very nice sergeant who was escorting me past that horrible scene whispered in my ear to keep my head down and not make eye contact with the men who were doing the beating; he said that he would protect me.
My ‘crime’? – I had been photographed amongst the crowd at various (mostly) peaceful protests or PN meetings.
No charges were ever brought against me, and I was never asked to sign any statements. It was just cruel intimidation, repeatedly bringing me in to the ‘depot’ and holding me for 48 hours.
No this was not Argentina or Chile in the 1970s – it was reality for any young person who dared to stand up and be counted in MALTA in the glorious days of Mintoff and Karmenu.
Today’s (Labour) youth must be made aware that many of these vile people are still in the highest ranks of the Labour Party.
Daphne, we need people like you (are there any others?) with the guts to expose these thugs for what they really are.
Heaven forbid they are ever allowed to run our country.
As for Kevin & Co, any comments or denials would be most welcome.
‘Today’s (Labour) youth must be made aware that many of these vile people are still in the highest ranks of the Labour Party.’
‘jekk qabel kont nara sitta demonji, illum qed nara…4 demonji’
Former Speaker on Timesofmalta.com. An interview to ponder.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20101003/local/I-had-the-courage-to-threaten-my-government-former-speaker
In my opinion, Anglu Farrugia should first kneel down in front of Daphne and beg for forgiveness, then rush off to One TV and join Dr. Joseph ‘With Hindsight’ Muscat in front of the cameras and apologise to the rest of the country, for all the atrocities committed in the 70s and 80s and for trying their hardest to keep us out of the EU.
Only then will we start getting a glimpse of real justice.
In the early 1980s, I was at a peaceful protest outside San Anton Palace, where there were children as young as 12 or 13. We were there to present a petition against the closure of our schools to President Agatha Barbara.
She came outside to accept the petition, but grabbed it from the student who presented it to her politely and began to slap him across the face with it, like a chimp with rabies.
We were surrounded by policemen from the Special Mobile Unit, who behaved as though children and students were a serious security risk. When they saw the President of the Republic hitting that student in the face with his petition, they took that as a signal to charge at us with shields and batons. At least there was no tear gas, as there had been at the previous protest I had been to.
Thank you, Daphne, for constantly reminding us of those dark years under “Bongu Malta Socjalista”.
What really bothers me about Labour or whatever they call themselves nowadays is not their past but the fact that they act as if it never happened, or even worse, still they try to justify their actions.
Kif ? (and I really ask myself over and over again) … kif ma jistħix?
What is the Rampa Union?
Rampa Union Trade Union
c/o. Legal Office,
1, Triq il-Merill,
Mosta
E-mail: [email protected] President:
Website: N/A Mr. Philip Frendo
Date of Reg: 18/10/2004 Secretary:
RTU 286
Mr. Joseph Spiteri
Maybe he meant “rump union”. Who knows?
I just Googled it. Apparently, it’s the “ramp workers’ union” – http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20070906/local/ramp-workers-union-presses-for-recognition
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20070906/local/ramp-workers-union-presses-for-recognition
I would have thought that in a criminal case the burden of proof should be on the accuser, to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime was commited. This was not a civil suit, where the burden of proof is merely to prove a greater probability.
How magistrate Meli could fail to have reasonable doubts about Gadget’s conduct when it had already been condemned in a previous court sentence is beyond understanding.
I hope and pray for a successful outcome for you. All honest and right-thinking people owe you a huge debt of gratitude.
And why did the gutless PN do nothing to bring these thugs to justice? Not only that, but some were promoted.
The PN let down the people who voted for them by allowing these thugs to walk round with impunity. In fact some still perpetrate their vile acts, as we are witnessing here.
Meta dawn il-barbari kissru d- dar ta’ Dr Fenech Adami, il-Kurja, harqu it-Times, kissru massa ta’ hwienet gol-Belt, sawwtu lil min ma jaqbilx maghho ,u ghamlu herba minn pajjizna, Dr Fenech Adami qallina biex nahfrulhom.
Fl-opinjoni fqira tieghi, kieku ma hfirnilhomx kieku pajjizna spicca mecca tal-Mafja.
Hear, hear!
Perhaps the PN (wrongly) thought that these pieces of scum would convert to better ways – but we are witnessing the same.
Dear Ms Caruana Galizia
Sorry to butt in here, but I couldn’t find any e-mail contact of yours. Maybe you could get back to me, my e-mail is provided, as I have a couple of questions for you. I recently spent some time in Malta doing research on cultural heritage for my thesis. A friend of mine brought your work to my attention and suggested you might be a good person to get in touch with. Thank you.
[Daphne – [email protected]]
i have a feeling that this blog is manipulated by DCG, why was my comment blocked? i did not insult anyone, maybe you are all part of PN Propoganda machine and only publish attacks on PL. SHAME ON YOU ALL. I AM SURE YOU WILL ALSO BLOCK THIS COMMENT.
EX PN
EX PN? That’s a joke.
yes ray, and maybe Elvis is still alive!
At the same time that the MLP wants us to forget about their past atrocities, as if nothing ever happened, they are constantly telling us that it was the same MLP which introduced social security.
Ex MLP
you and other cannot digest that so many pn are shifting to pl. within 2 years my friend you will see the verdict. yes i used to vote pn now i cannot be passive and watch corruption everywhere. if you can absorb this i will not. its over and done. gonzipn era will soon be over.
Ray Spiteri – PL, MLP or whatever you decide to call it, the “old Labour” roots are still there, and people never change, nor will their policies, which is why – for my children’s sake – I hope that Labour will remain firmly in the opposition for at least another generation.
NGT in a comment elsewhere in this blog, sought to justify the attacks on church schools as ultimately being “Not a bad deal for the taxpayer”.
No, NGT – the attack on church schools by the Labour government was not a good deal to the tax payers at all; it was an abusive act that is still reverbrating to the detriment of the nation, to the present day.
The grim reality is that the Labour government, after having largely destroyed private enterprise, forcibly taken over private banks, taken over broadcasting services, clamped down heavily on the free press, closed down private hospitals, expelled surgeons and medical doctors, wreaking havoc in the health sector in the process, then sought to put the cherry on that rancid cake by – to quote that oaf Wistin Abela – ‘creating a socialist generation’.
Church schools stood in the way of that objective, giving rise to the ‘Jew b’xejn, jew xejn’ campaign, the ultimate objective being the latter, for the true objective was not to provide ‘free’ education in church-run schools, but to bring under direct government control all teachers and pupils then in church and private schools, preferably by closing down the schools altogether.
The ‘socialist generation’ objective was checkmated by the unified and strong resistance put up by those who were at church schools, by their parents, by ex alumni and by all people of goodwill.
The Labour government then EXTORTED land from the church, holding hostage the children in church schools and their parents by preventing the schools from re-opening.
That arrogant and shameful act was actively aided and abetted by members of the police force. Clear proof of this was the totally unjustified and abusive action against my daughter, Daphne, and against so very many others who have their own stories to tell, back in 1984 by Anglu Farrugia, whose photograph defaces the top of this page, and by several of his colleagues.
Farrugia’s actions brought discredit to the police force and remain a permanent discredit to Farrugia himself.
Anglu, know this: the truth and one’s past cannot be erased simply by shaving off one’s ‘police moustache’.
I said nothing of the sort – I suggest you reread what I wrote.
So what exactly did you say here, NGT?
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2010/10/08/one-photograph-anglu-farrugia-wont-be-uploading-on-his-websajt/
1. That church schools are not draining the tax-payers’ money as insinuated by the people I replied to.
2. That the deal struck between the PN government and the Catholic Church actually was a good deal for the government too since the Curia could not really ensure that church schools could contnue to operate. Many were actually operating at a loss in the 80s.
3. I never justified the attack on church schools by KMB’s government. Please quote me where you think I did.
NGT, Fair enough. As long as you did not justify KMB’s actions!
The bottom line is that Michael A. Vella’s contribution above remains valid, subject to your correction relating to the first paragraph.
In fact, I am happy that Michael A. Vella mentioned the “Jew b’xejn jew xejn.”
I think that this mentality has become so pervasive that I suspect it underlies the current crisis at ARMS Limited. The company is claiming that it is facing a large wave of customers making enquiries about their bills. Is it that consumers are thinking they should not be charged for what they consume?
@ Michael A. Vella
And abusing it was, but what did the PN do to reverse the damage on the church schools issue?
Brian, What sort of damage do you have in mind?
Hi Ray, don’t you think you’re counting your chickens before they are hatched, my friend?
These days MLP/PL activists are doing the rounds of Swieqi like Jehovah’s Witnesses, asking people to enroll in the party, and turning up at most inconvenient times.
Yes, they knocked on my door and I told them that they can move on. Told them that I shall only let them into my house if they are accompanied by Anglu Farrugia!
Applause for Michael A. Vella –
@ Michael A. Vella
I humbly offer you my standing ovation.
Anyone read Owen Bonnici’s piece in The Sunday Times, today? If he reads this blog, after meeting all those people, he forgot to say that he met those coming out of the bingo halls. He forgot to say that he met people coming down from the cruise-liners, he forgot to say that he met all those coming out from the several lotto offices and he forgot to say that he met all those who go out to restaurants for meals.
That is why I will not vote again for the PL, no matter how rotten the Gonzi administration is. The same people of the 70s and 80s are still leading the PL.
How can we give power in their hands again.
@Ray Spiteri,
Wishing you the very best of luck in the coming MLP/PL era as you will badly need it.
I have dug out of a cupboard a copy of a leaflet circulated by the Labour Party and its supporters at the time of the schools crisis:
DAWN HUMA GHALLIEMA TAL-ISKEJJEL PRIVATI LI QALU LI SER JIKSRU L-LIGI. ID-DMIR TAL-HADDIEMA HUWA LI JWAQQFUHOM.
The finer point being, of course, that teachers were not members of the privileged class, ‘haddiema’.
Mob rule. And people who should know better claim that such thinking is dead and buried.
your experience sounds like something straight out of this great film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DABxFzggR4
@NGT – No deal, conducted against the background of unbridled abuse of power, threats, physical attacks on persons participating in peaceful protests, ransacking of the Curia, and the illegal arrest, detention and arraignment of innocent persons on trumped up charges in furtherance of an ideology that sought to control and brainwash an entire generation of children, can ever be considered as “not a bad deal”.
That NGT seeks to play down these shameful incidents and to reduce them to a simple exercise in creative accounting is no less shameful.
Have you seen the Cartoon-of the-day in today’s Times? The late whiskers of the former inspector feature quite prominently !
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20101011/cartoon-of-the-day/cartoon-of-the-day
ghajjejt naqra l-kummenti kollha! Kummenti bla sens, kummenti ta’ nies li kienu u ghadhom mugugha, kummenti ta’ biza li zmien ‘Anglu’ pulizija qieghed wara l-bieb, izda wkoll kummenti li jgieghluk tirrifletti.
Daphne kitbet il-veritajiet taghha, u dawk is-27 siegha f’dak il-wahx ghadu jberren go mohha. U zgur li ma naghtijiex tort! Kieku kont jien bhalha ghadni rrabbjat ghal dan il-pulizija bil-kilba tal-poter! Dawn iridu jitilghu fil-gvern u daqshekk. Dak hu l-iskop taghhom.
Il-Gvern minghalih li qieghed fit-triq it-tajba. Taparsi jikkonsulta u jaghmel ta’ rasu. Qed ihalli l-korporazzjonijiet tieghu jitmexxew bla direzzjoni, kulhadd qalbu maqtugha, shaba sewda qeghda fuq pajjizna. Il-Prim Ministru jrid jisma lil poplu, irid ihoss il-polz tal-poplu, illum qabel ghada! Ghada Too LATE!
Ghada tigix thabbat il-bieb ghal-vot, ghax se ssibu maghluq. Illum qed insejjahlek, u int qed tirrifjuta li twiegeb. Illum jien ghandi bzonn min imexxi l-quddiem.
Vera li flimkien kollox kien possibli, imma issa dak is-slogan sfaxxa, marlu l-kulur u ttappan u ddallam. F’idejk Prim Ministru, ghandek sulfarina li jekk trid tista’ tqabbaddha u taghti ftit tad-dawl, izda sa llum in-nar ghadu ma deher imkien.
Kemm fih gherf il-kliem li qal John Dalli, dak li kellu jirrizenja minhabba l-qlajjiet! Irridu nduru ghall-gheruq. Id-dielja nixfet, qed tibki ghal tazza ilma, imma.
Fejn huma l-vera politici? Gorg Borg Olivier, Gwido de Marco, Eddie Fenech Adami, Louis Galea, Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, Ninu Zammit, fejn huma?
Qed nisma hafna nies idoqqu l-hornijiet, qed nara hafna nies bl-ahmar jifirhu, iva, qed jifirhu ghax rebhu l-elezzjoni! Sewwa jaghmlu, kull min jirbah jifrah!
Il-One Tv qed ixandar trakkijiet imdawwlin bl-ahmar u ftit metri l-isfel, f’tal-Pieta, hafna wcuh mbellhin, ma jistghux jifhmu ala n-nies ghamlu hekk.
Issa naghmlu hafna programmi ha naraw ghaliex tlifna, issa nohorgu l-istatistici mill-kxiexen ha jkollna xi nqabblu. Qed nisthajjel nisma lil Dr. Gonzi jghid li l-poplu ma fehemx il-messagg, bhallikieku jdur fuq kull wiehed u wahda li ma vvutawx u jsaqsihom bid-dmugh f’ghajnejh: ‘Ghaliex?’ ‘Kif?’
Ma rridx nghidilkom x’risposti bdew jaghtuh!
Izda li nista’ nghidilkom hu li baqa’ ssummat jisma u jisma! Din id-darba ma deherx dahqan.
Kemm nixtieq li din holma kerha!
Kemm nixtieq!
Kemm nixtieq!
Messagg lil Daphne: Please forward this message to people who are capable of doing something. Xi hadd li ghadu jinteressah li l-Vizjoni 2015 ssehh vera, u mhux bil-paroli wisq!
Jekk LE, dak il-pulizija li cahhdek mill-liberta’ tieghek, ghad insibuh jien u int ma’ wiccna fi ftit zmien iehor mhux wisq il-boghod.
Grazzi li hallejtni nsemma’ lehni!
Zomm wahda. “Induru ghall-gheruq” ma jaghmilx sens jekk l-gheruq ma joffrux hlief cucati. Ma nippretendix li prim ministru jifformula l-istrategija ekonomika ta’ pajjiz billi jiehu l-vot tal-udjenza f’kazin, per ezempju.
Imma jekk b'”gheruq” qed tghid ghal dawk li mhumhiex involuti fil-partit izda huma professjonisti, jew tal-unions, jew tal-constituted bodies, hekk mod iehor.
John Dalli m’ghandu xejn x’jghid. Kull ma qed jipproponi hija s-soltu cliché ta” “il-gvern huwa arroganti”. Il-gvern mhux arroganti, imma inkompetenti. Li mhijhiex l-istess haga.
Tridni nghidlek ghaliex il-PN u Gonzi se jitiflu l-elezzjoni fl-2013? Ghax minflok dak li jezisti, jaraw li jiffunzjona b’mod perfett, jivvintaw progretti u skemi u inizjattivi godda.
La fuite en avant, insejhulha.
U mdawrin bi shaba ta’ bullshitters jibbumbardjawh bl-ottimizmu.
“Il-Gvern minghalih li qieghed fit-triq it-tajba. …….., kulhadd qalbu maqtugha, shaba sewda qeghda fuq pajjizna. …..Vera li flimkien kollox kien possibli, imma issa dak is-slogan sfaxxa, marlu l-kulur u ttappan u ddallam. F’idejk Prim Ministru, ghandek sulfarina li jekk trid tista’ tqabbaddha u taghti ftit tad-dawl, izda sa llum in-nar ghadu ma deher imkien. ……Kemm fih gherf il-kliem li qal John Dalli, ….”
What a load of crap!
I will never forget those private lessons at the home of one of my classmates. Her mother and the teachers took a great personal risk and we were told to wait behind a corner, check for anybody around and then run in.
What happens to that unfortunate person “assisting” the police in their enquiriies who refuses to answer any questions or sign any statement?
Is he released after 48 hours and re-arrested as soon as he leaves the Police HQ (I don’t like “depot”)?
[Daphne – Yes, that used to happen all the time. They’d arrest you, let you out of the depot gate, then rearrest you immediately. Or they’d let you go home and then pick you up again.]
What about “habeus corpus”?
It appears that Malta’s finest (ahem) prefer confessions to actually working on proving their case beyond reasonable doubt by bringing proof of guilt.
[Daphne – It’s impossible to prove guilt when you have fabricated a crime, Anthony.]
D: I was speaking in general and not refering to your case in particular.
Dear Daphne,
I am quite surprised to read that you are stating I have a cocaine habit……………who are you to decide and state that there are others who have said that I asked for kickbacks for my alleged habit.
[Daphne – They told me, Nikki, to my face. They were people I have known for a long time and who have no interest in lying or in doing you in. If they did, they would have gone to the police. But they didn’t.]
Daphne I dont need any kickbacks, and a person having a habit cannot sustain an audit firm with 20 + employees most of whom are professionals and thus wages arent on the low side (and they deserve it).
[Daphne – Nikki, if you don’t have a cocaine habit, then why did you say so to the police? Of course a person with a cocaine habit can keep a business or a professional firm going. It’s been known to happen before. Things keep going for a while and then they become unsustainable and everything collapses. It’s not as though you’re in your 40s or 50s, like many people who have a cocaine habit. You’re still – what – 31?]
Until I read this really disgusting comment which once again shows your lack of professional approach since a professional person would never write such statement if not based on facts. The arrogance of the PN is equal to your arrogance and don’t worry, I dont’t and will never need your help since people like you can’t accept that people coming from a workers family make a success in their profession.
[Daphne – I would call many things in this scenario disgusting, but certainly my comment is the least of it. Quite frankly, I don’t think you’re in a position to call anyone disgusting right now, or arrogant, for that matter. I cannot see why you think I should help you. And I cannot understand how you have linked this to social background. I have no idea of your background and couldn’t care less because it has nothing to do with it, as the examples of Noel Arrigo and Patrick Vella proved so spectacularly.]
In the coming days on the media you will see who I really am, what my professional achievements are, when I was in the wrong in my life and I will mention this fact since. I am disappointed since i used to read your blogs and always thought they were founded but stating that “I have a cocaine habit and that there are others who will not bother to come forward and state that I asked for kickbacks” now confirms why so many libel suits were and are being done against you and I will be another to joing the list.
[Daphne – You see, Nikki, this is EXACTLY why I said that those who are advising you, if there are any, are advising you wrongly. Right now, what you need to do is sit down, keep quiet, stay out of the limelight and sort yourself out. THEN come back after laying low. But there is no way on earth that you are going to get any positive results at this stage from repeated presence in the media. You’re under a whole lot of stress and you’re not taking good decisions. And the only reason I’m telling you this is because I’m almost old enough to be your mother, and believe it or not, you’ve got me worried for you. I can actually see what you’re doing wrong and that you’re too young/inexperienced to take all this constant media pressure. I thought the media was wrong to focus so minutely on your story and I stayed out of it myself. I hope you weren’t the one feeding the media because if so, that was a lousy idea. No journalist is going to fight your battle; all they want is a story or a scandal and you shouldn’t allow yourself to be used for that. Take my advice, for what it’s worth, and lie low.]
Back your words with facts and prove yourself right. If you are such an honest person, now please do state publicly how you have decided to state such words. This really made me change my opinion about you and speak about injustice, so what do you call your action – I think you should go and get your life in order as you seem to hate the world around you.
Please do get my comment.
[Daphne – My life is very much in order, Nikki. And no, I don’t hate the world around me. You are projecting your own current feelings onto me, and please do remember that those feelings are current. They will eventually go away, but only if you lie low and stop appearing in the media all the time trying to clear your name. You are not going to clear your name like this. People are not going to believe that there is nothing to this story, that everyone just ganged up on you and invented a story about kickbacks for reasons of their own. You have to convince them through your behaviour. And behaviour like that you have manifested, including in this comment, doesn’t help.]
Dear Daphne
Seems that my comments have made you quite nervous – what an outburst. I never thought you were so interested into getting to try and think you know my life and portraying it in a way that you want. I think you didnt follow the case and your answers are not professional. Dont state words in general. “They told me” – “they would have gone to the police” – Let them speak out and I never admitted to the police I have a habit. It seems like you dont know the facts, i think if I admitted such a big habit I would be charged on it and it would be stated in one of my 4 statements.
[Daphne – People are not charged for having a cocaine habit. They are charged for either 1. possession, or 2. dealing. I assume you were doing neither while under interrogation. As for being nervous – hardly. I’ve written right through five legislatures (this is the sixth), seen prime ministers, ministers, leaders of the opposition and MPs come and go, dealt with Lorry Sant’s reaction to my writing about him at 25, and am hardly going to be rendered nervous by a Sliema mayor in a spot of bother. Your story really isn’t that interesting, Nikki – it’s the story of a Sliema mayor in a spot of bother. I never wrote about it because I have a pretty good instinct for the public pulse, and so I didn’t make the same mistake some of my colleagues did, blowing the story out of all proportion. You may think they were helping you, but really, they were using you – and you may choose not to believe me, but I thought it was most indecent and unfair to you, since you were clearly not in a position to make sound judgements while under so much stress.]
I cant beleive how a journalist just comes to a conclusion without even bothering to read the facts or at least have the decency of hearing both sides.
Why can’t I call such a comment disgusting? Do you also dictate people on what to state? Who are you to tell me what to do and judge me? Leave people live in peace and live your life. This is why you have ended up going in and out of court.
[Daphne – No, Nikki, I am in and out of court because I refuse to allow my freedom of expression, my democratic and human right, to be hindered by the fear that my politicial enemies will take me to court. I could choose to live the life of a coward, like most of my compatriots, but I won’t. I can’t see why you, with your profession and your 20 employees and your whole life ahead of you, would have wanted to waste your time becoming mayor of Sliema, but because I am liberal in my views, I am not going to contest your right to do it or suggest that the reason you have problems is because you did it.]
It was the first time for me and just to save some time for you on reasearching, I am charged on soliciting a bribe (asking for but never received a mere € 120 a month) – and you are trying to deprive me from expressing my feelings – I thought you knew about the “freedom of expression”.
[Daphne – I am not trying to deprive you of anything, Nikki. I am uploading your comments intact. The advice I am giving you is something else entirely: that you are being used by the media to fill their pages and by the Labour Party and the newspaper I call John Dalli Today to get at the government. Not one of these people is interested in you as a human being or has your best interests at heart. When I look at you, all I see is a young man in a hell of a lot of trouble, but not so much trouble that he can’t sort it out and get his life back on track. But to do that, you first need to achieve some level of serenity, because in any other state of mind, you will take bad decisions. I would never interview you not because I want to silence you (me? imagine that) but because I think are in enough trouble already and it would be unfair.]
Whilst appreciating your thoughts and worries, and in the same time confirming that you don’t know who I am since I don’t like the spotlight. In fact, I stayed 3 weeks without saying a single word in the media, and I did reflect and think. I wouldnt take your advice since it is not your profession. [Daphne – On the contrary, Nikki, it is very much my profession.] My lawyers, who are known to be amongst the top lawyers in Malta know there job well. In fact they one of them was representing a MP in court last week.
You also are telling me I am not taking good decisions……………well I thank you for your advice, however time will tell who took good decisions. The issue is not this, the issue is justice. It is so easy to criticise when someone is defending himself.
My inexperience has led to quite a number of unseen actions by some of Malta’s highest authorities. I can and did take the media pressure since I only took notice of the media who werent biased and were fair.
Finally I dont need to lie low, I didnt do anything wrong and this is the concept you are missing. I thought you were intelligent enough to understand that, why should I lie low if I didnt do anything. You had your experience so you should even know what it is like when you are interrogated in such a way.
[Daphne – OK, I’m just going to repeat this one more time. I am not telling you to lie low like a criminal. I am advising you to lie low because every public appearance or negotiation with the media upsets and disturbs you. Your replies to me are full of indicators of great agitation, even if you cannot see it yourself. I am telling you through long experience that right now you are extremely vulnerable to people who will use your agitation and hurt for their own ends, without giving a thought to any further damage it might do you. Believe me when I say that my only interest in you is as a fellow human being who I perceive as being in a lot of pain. I have zero interest in mayors. My views about local councils, which range from contempt to indifference, are well known.]
I just ask you one simple question:
Why was there the need to lock me up in a cell after having given my detailed statement and the only evidence produced against me is a declaration of a person. Am I right in asking so? Would you see it fair if I had to go and invent something on you to the police, you are called in and until you give your statement BUT you are thrown in a cell and called back up after hours passes to give another statement.
[Daphne – I think everyone knows by now that I am COMPLETELY AGAINST locking up interrogees in cells unless there are SOLID GROUNDS for suspicion. I am also against interrogation without the presence of a lawyer and I think that interrogations like yours, which are going to end up as the subject of controversy, should be taped. Preferably, all interrogations should be taped. I’ll just stop there.]
My final question is an answer to all your comments which continue to show how a mature person shouldnt act in life – if you beleive in justice and democracy.
Thanks a real lot and dont worry much about me.