Gosh, the elves have become entangled in their own web of spin
This comment was uploaded on timesofmalta.com’s board, but I’m replying here because the gentleman in question is dying for it.
Matthew Micallef
I’m sry but this is all a bunch of crap!! If it were true that things weren’t linked to his resignation, the police would have convicted his father AND kept his name hidden. People’s name’s aren’t published over possession of weed, they’re released over a substantial trafficking incident.
I’m dying to see how Daphne Caruana Galizia is going to make Dr .Gonzi sound infallible.
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Matthew, if you’re feeling weak, pop two kiwis. Apparently, they work wonders. Now listen to this, and listen hard:
THE POLICE DID NOT RELEASE OR PUBLISH CHRIS ENGERER’S NAME OR EVEN THE MEREST DETAIL OF THE PROCEEDINGS AGAINST HIM. SAVIOUR BALZAN AND MATTHEW VELLA DID THAT WITH A FRONT PAGE STORY ON MALTA TODAY LAST SUNDAY.
They did not get the story from the police. They got it from Cyrus and his father.
I read it and thought ‘Really smart – Streisand Effect. Until this morning, hardly anybody knew that Cyrus is the son of a long-term heroin addict. But within hours, the whole of Malta will, and anybody beyond our shores who cares to read the internet reports.’
When the story dies down, the only facts that will remain in people’s minds are that Chris Engerer was a heroin addict who still smokes a lot of dope, and that Cyrus Engerer sent photographs of his ex-boyfriend having sex with another man to his employers.
What sounded so liberal to Labour is already just plain sordid.
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What if Cyrus led Galea Curmi into a trap, notwithstanding the latter was a family friend? This guy (unless he is being blackmailed) seems to be audacious and vindictive enough to act irresponsibly.
Daphne you are doing good; keep toeing the Party line…you are an other great ‘ewropeja’!
How did you get to know that Cyrus’s father has drug problems? Was it just since Cyrus joined the PL or was it an open secret to anyone who wanted to know? That’s why the whole story smells fishy. It cannot be only a coincidence that such accusations only surface now.
[Daphne – I knew Chris Engerer had a history of drug problems before I knew Cyrus existed. When I came across Cyrus in the public sphere, I had to be persuaded that he is Chris Engerer’s son because it seemed so improbable. That, to me, is the most tragic aspect of the story. Remove the private life and the poor judgement from the mix, and Cyrus Engerer is far more successful academically and in other ways than many young men his age who had a conventional background and all the advantages. That he should have blown it is terrible, though it might of course be directly related to those circumstances, from which I would think it is impossible for a child to escape entirely unscathed without consequences that will show up at some point in adult life. So back to your original question: I’m from Sliema, as are the extended Engerer family, at least one household of whom lived a few doors away from us (not this one, though). Chris Engerer also ran the Exiles beach bar (he still does) where most people I knew 25- 30 years ago congregated every afternoon in the summer. So everybody in that crowd knew, including Saviour Balzan – or so he tells us in Malta Today – though I don’t remember him there at all (too ginger for the sun, I imagine) and suspect he is more likely to know through his sister, who worked hard with recovering addicts for a long time after overcoming problems of her own many years ago.]
I think we really have to ask ourselves the following question.
Why exactly did Cyrus Engerer, a self-declared gay-rights activist, send photos showing his ex-boyfriend having sex with another man, to his ex-boyfriend’s employer?
This could only have been done to inflict serious economic and social damage on the ex-boyfriend because he is gay.
Cyrus did not just send the photos to any other man or woman, but to the employer of his ex-boyfriend. So much for his talk about gay rights, gay equality and no discrimination against gays.
This is one court case I am going to listen to, even if it entails squeezing myself in between Jason and Ronnie.
If they are just twisting the facts for their own ends, well, that is just an old MLP tradition that they are honouring.
However, if they are solemnly believing their own blatant lies, not even an army of psychiatrists will see us through this one.
I would like to read your commentaries from the 18 to the 25 July as I was away and did not have access to internet. Can you please tell me where I can find these ? I tried the ‘archives’ section but only found the very old ones.
Thanks and regards – Etil
[Daphne – Go to Archives and select month and year from the bar at the top of the page.]
Then click on “Older” to get to the older posts.
OK thanks, Ken
OK thanks – done
Correct me if I’m wrong, but during Labour’s last blip in power, didn’t a certain “minister without portfolio”, whatever that is, directly interfere in police business by removing police protection for Richard Cachia Caruana against the police commissioner’s wishes and advice?
Speaking of elves, does anybody watch “Telepoplu” transmitted by One TV at about 8.15pm, bang in the middle of TVM News?
Health Warning: it’s a Zoo programme, so be prepared.
I have got a broad sense of humour, but this comedy, sit-com (what is it exactly ?) does not seem to hit the right button with me. It makes me cringe and the only good thing about it is that it is in Maltese so limited hopefully to this god forsaken archipelago.
Zoo.
Limp, moronic, strained humour by ugly, shaven-headed dolts who look like they’ve stepped straight out of Benghazi.
Labour at its best. This is taken from the interview with Adrian Vassallo which was published this morning in The Times:
“I was not interested in what happened in the third reading, the nitty-gritty and the details,” he said.
Asked whether he had seen the final version of the divorce law as amended, he replied: “I have no interest. I do not give a s***.”
That’s just what we need. MPs who don’t give a shit about the laws that pass through parliament.
Just because you don’t agree with a law, it doesn’t mean that you can ignore the whole process. Kudos to those who despite disagreeing, chose to stick around and try to make the best out of what they perceived to be a bad situation, especially those who voted ‘no’ in the second reading and ‘yes’ in the third.
The news of the last few weeks generated enough material to fill a Queer Mediterranean Memories Volumes II and III, complete with a foreword by Joseph Muscat and illustrated with photographs by Marvic and Cyrus.
If Joseph Carmel Chetcuti (who I am sure will read this comment) does not declare publicly that he is going to publish those volumes, I will go for it myself.
Hard back or soft bound, Ciccio? Oh dear, I must stop, really.
Uncut or abridged version?
Full length edition.
I have no doubt that Daphne’s accounting of the recent events is absolutely correct.
Then the question arises: If Cyrus ‘leaked’ the information, who did he leak it to?
Was Joseph Muscat really unaware of pending charges against Cyrus when he welcomed him to the Labour Party?
Is Muscat so distant from Saviour Balzan and his own media that he did not know what was going on? He sure stepped on a live land-mine, if so.
The formal inquiry’s job boils down to asking Balzan & Co.for the name of the person who leaked the information. If they refuse to reveal the source, then lock them up until they squawk. Who knows, they may go on a hunger strike.
[Daphne – OK, let’s make things even clearer because there seems to be some confusion here. This is what Cyrus ‘leaked’ to Malta Today: news of his father’s arrest and questioning re drugs; Edgar Galea Curmi’s telephone to the police commissioner (he was the only one who could have told Malta Today because the only other two people who knew were the police commissioner and Galea Curmi).
This is what was leaked to The Times: the charge sheet on which Cyrus will be prosecuted. Nobody knows who leaked this and The Times are legally entitled to protect their source. Cyrus did not know about it and was taken by surprise when The Times rang to tell him about it.]
In that case, the cops should place a large basket of kiwis just an inch or two beyond their reach.
“Was Joseph Muscat really unaware of pending charges against Cyrus when he welcomed him to the Labour Party?”
Note that the journalists asked Joseph Muscat if Cyrus Engerer had told him about the ongoing investigation. I wish somebody would ask Muscat: Were you aware of the pending charges against Cyrus? That is a completely different question.
Daphne, just read your clear column in The Malta Independent today. Thank you for giving us a breakdown of events.
Do you know more or less when Marvic Camilleri’s lawyers Ellul and Micallef file a “kwerela” with the police against Cyrus?
Since this “kwerela” is a public document can this crucial document be published on the newspapers?
Since Cyrus is a public figure and his constituents put him in office, why didn’t he feel obliged to tell the public that he was being investigated by the police?
Cyrus is not thinking clearly.
We all make stupid mistakes in life. I don’t believe he is being advised correctly. He should stop with this judicial protest and stay low key.
Well done Daphne for today’s article. Brilliant !