I think you may find that they emigrated a long time ago.

I admit to not being aware of (or I have forgotten) these facts. The more I learn/recall of that Meinrad saga the more I realise the extent of the unscrupulous, unprincipled and ruthless behaviour they and their accomplices went to.

As you say, you have a long, first-hand experience of it, which you fearlessly share to keep our memory alive. No wonder the Laburisti hate you to death and some Nationalists keep their distance from you. You’re direct, logical, uncompromisingly principled.

De Marco. Always him. A road to hell paved with good intentions.

He was certainly one of the last to have served in the British Army. None of the current crop of AFM officers did. Hence the rise of the pen-pusher or social worker type.

Daphne, had a couple of beers last night with an about to retire ‘soldier’. I brought up the subject of ‘Bigadier’ Calleja’s appointment. Didn’t know about it, but was very happy. He said ‘he was the best Brigadier we ever had’. Sigh.

That the campaign was mounted by the Calleja family/Labour Party. Now I see how the dynamics of the case militate towards this view.

[Daphne – Mine is not a claim, Last Post, but a fact. I have had to contend with them for 20 years. Perhaps you forget I was a witness in both cases, and that when the front door of our home was set on fire in December 1994, the prime suspect was Meinrad Calleja. Malta Today is not part of any campaign AGAINST the Callejas but rather the opposite. Meinrad’s brother Patrick and Saviour Balzan are close friends and allies. You should have heard Patrick spewing venom against me on the witness stand in court only a few months ago, on Saviour Balzan’s behalf.]

Or that his daughter Giannella was Meinrad Calleja’s original defence counsel when he was arraigned on cocaine trafficking and the attempted murder of the PM’s personal assistant – while her father was deputy PM.

Manuel Mallia and Ramona Frendo took over from her.

Let’s not forget, either, that Maurice Calleja explained how, when he heard that the PM (Fenech Adami) wanted him to resign as commanding officer, he went straight to consult with Guido de Marco (as what, his lawyer or the deputy PM) who told him that he didn’t have to. That was very helpful of de Marco.

Let us also not forget that Guido, of Demarco fame, was instrumental in getting Meinrad Calleja out of jail in Rome and bringing him back to Malta, where he could carry on his business.

Pardon my ignorance (on this issue) but how could the Calleja family benefit from a campaign of depicting Meinrad and his associate del Negro as drug dealers and arms peddlers with that ‘Butcher’ Karadzic.

[Daphne – There wasn’t any such campaign. There was just straight reporting of the facts. The only campaign took place on the Labour media, with a full-on strategy to attack the credibility of certain witnesses and bolster the credibility of others, the aim being to sabotage the trial. And when Meinrad and his sister were caught with cocaine in 1993, Kullhadd ran a story about it without mentioning that these were the children of the army chief. Can you imagine.]

While I write I remember that there were attempts (especially by Super1) at pinning del Negro as the evil mastermind and Meinrad being caught in his web.

It’s good of you to refresh our memories of those dark events. If you have more information about your claim I’d like to know about it.

[Daphne – What claim?]