The day Ganni 'Il-Pupa' Psaila died – or was he pushed?
Ganni Psaila died at dawn on 26 November 1997. When Labour won the general election in 1996, this by now sorry wreck of a man could be seen shivering with fear inside the Nationalist Party headquarters.
More than anyone else, he knew what lay in store for him – because, unlike anyone else, he had direct experience from the inside of what some people in and around the victorious party were capable of.
Three months later, Psaila testified in court about the events of the night of 1 December 1986, describing how Karmenu Farrugia, Karmenu Vella’s driver, used a submachine gun to shoot at the Tarxien Nationalist Party club.
Karmenu Farrugia said that this wasn’t true and that he was in parliament that night with his master.
Ten months later, Ganni Psaila was dead. On legs that had been crippled by a bomb placed in his car after word got out that he had been talking to Guido de Marco about revealing the identity of those involved in the shooting events, he somehow managed to run away from policemen who say they caught him in the act of burglary, and then fell down a building shaft.
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Gunmen on Malta Kill Opposition Backer
NYT December 8, 1986
http://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/08/world/around-the-world-gunmen-on-malta-kill-opposition-backer.html?scp=81&sq=malta&st=cse
A supporter of Malta’s opposition Nationalist Party has been killed by shots fired from a passing car, the police said.
The slaying of Raymond Caruana, 25 years old, took place Friday night, six days after 23 people were wounded in street clashes between supporters of the Nationalist Party and the governing Socialist Party.
The police said the shooting followed a reception at the Nationalist club in Gudia, 10 miles from Valletta.
Thirteen shots were fired at the club from a passing car, shattering a glass door and killing Mr. Caruana, the police said. Five other men in the club escaped harm.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110211/local/john-dalli-s-performance-seen-equal-to-barroso-s
The Times hagiography of leader-in-waiting John Dalli continues; Santo Subito!
Are PN supporters now becoming paranoid? What hagiography? Have you cared to read the article?
…for the sake of those whose memories are selective, here is a small chronology:
Nov/Dec. 1986: Tal-Barrani incidents, Raymond Caruana murdered
May 1987: PN elected
Sept. 1996: PN loses election after 9 and a half years in government.
Beginning of 1997: Il-Pupa testifies
Nov, 1997: Il-Pupa dies
Sept. 1998: PN elected to government
Feb 2011: PN in government for 12 and a half years.
Being in government does not mean you just win an election, but also take charge of all the state machinery. Since the shameful events of end 1986/beginning of 1987 the PN has been in charge if the state machinery for more than 21 years in all. The burden of respondibility lies on their shoulders.
[Daphne – You left out an important part of the chronology: 1990, Nicholas Ellul arrianged for the miurder of Raymond Caruana]
Yes, Ellul arraigned…and…what progress was made between 1990 and 1996?
[Daphne – Let’s see now. Psaila was persuaded to testify and an attempt was made on his life.]
Yes, and then?
Psaila was not the only culprit. So those politically responsible for the fight against crime, and for protecting citizens, between 1990 and 1996 failed to do their duty, or were not capable, or were under some hidden pressure.
I find that much, much scarier than some common thugs running around, unsavoury as that might be.
Try as it might, the PN cannot shift the responsibility it carries for being totally powerless to prosecute these people, and give us citizens the answers we want. I won’t go to the LP or anyone for my answers….I expect my government, not a political party, to be the guarantor of peace and security in the country. After all, wasn’t it the PN who in 1981 promised “F’darek u pajjizek bla biza”?
Daphne, thanks for clarifying the date of the Pupa’s death.
I would dare say that after framing Pietru Pawl Busuttil, the police managed to frame also il-Pupa by claiming that he was in the middle of a burglary seconds before his death.
Daphne should be nominated ghal kariga ta Prim Imhallef. What a talanted lady Malta has. Malta needs Daphne. She is the best. Ex PN.
It looks like it’s time for somebody to get a pet to keep themselves occupied.
I know your picture is for illustration purposes only, but that is a Škorpion SA 36, which wasn’t around when the events happened. The weapon was more likely to have been the ubiquitous (in Malta, at any rate) Sterling in one of its variants.
SA 361, sorry.
Yes, indeed.The weapon used was a Sterling not the the pictured Skorpion.
Ganni Psaila’s wife said that her husband was framed.
http://archive.maltatoday.com.mt/2002/12/08/081202sr.pdf
On what grounds were Labour convinced that Raymond Caruana was murdered by someone from the PN?
Why did the police of the regime not work hard to get the propper culprits, but opted to work so hard on a person who was evidently being framed?
The people who had most to gain by the death of Ganni l-Pupa were the PN bigwigs who must have been pretty worried he would reveal who used to pay him.
[Daphne – How typical of a Labour supporter to think of a person’s death as something to be gained or lost from.]
Oh dear – how insensitive of me!
Chavs, by your reasoning, all Labour thugs had to be killed then, because, so the fantasy goes, they were all paid by the PN (ask Kev for further details but promise not to laugh or you’ll hurt his feelings).