The urgency of meaningful reforms

In the aftermath of the Yorgen Fenech verdict  a cacophony of voices has expressed regret, anger, frustration and bewilderment.

Today, the only person indicted with masterminding the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia is a free man. The verdict was delivered against a background of dubious happenings in the run-up to the case and throughout the trial itself.

The outcome has produced more questions than answers.

But there is a need for these strong emotions to be turned into something meaningful for the good of the country. This is a moment of reckoning for Malta’s democracy.

However, before contemplating what reforms the country needs, we cannot ignore the Caruana Galizia family’s need to find some form of closure. The appeal against the Fenech verdict is one step in this direction.

The Attorney General has a limited time window within which to file an appeal and it appears the office will seek a retrial. The odds aren’t favourable. A retrial requires specific occurrences that the prosecution will have to highlight and argue strongly for. Nonetheless, an appeal is the last chance for the Fenech case to be re-opened after the business tycoon was acquitted by a nine-person jury on both counts.

The appeal process will eventually play out in court over the next weeks, possibly months.

But while this judicial process plays out there are wider considerations to be made as a result of all the testimony that emerged throughout the trial.

These considerations are of an investigative, legislative and ethical nature.

First, the police must re-open investigations into some of the key witnesses heard in court, not least Keith Schembri. Investigators have always claimed they never had proof to consider Schembri a murder suspect. But the bigger question any level-headed person is asking after the Fenech trial is: Did investigators even try to find the proof back in 2019 when Schembri’s name was floated by Fenech and initially by Melvyn Theuma?

From the testimony heard in court the police failed to probe Schembri with the same zeal and diligence used to nail Fenech. Schembri mysteriously lost his phone minutes before police turned up at his villa and nobody thought of cloning it to determine whether it contained valuable proof of wrongdoing. And when a second search was conducted at his house, scene of crime officers were instructed by their superiors to collect only those devices indicated by Schembri.

There are a lot of question marks hanging over the police’s conduct in those crucial initial stages. And no, this is not a theory that plays into the hands of Fenech even though his lawyers used it to deviate attention and sow doubt.

Questioning whether the police did their job well when dealing with Schembri does not negate the fact that Fenech paid Theuma thousands of euros and gave him the go-ahead to proceed with the murder plot, even though he later claimed he wanted it stopped. Questioning whether Schembri was dealt a light hand is important for the rest of the country even if it has no material consequence on Fenech’s own predicament.

Second, parliament must legislate to introduce new crimes that address the genesis of highly sophisticated organised crime groups, where executors are far removed from those at the top.

Several legislative proposals can be found in the recommendations of the Caruana Galizia Public Inquiry. Unfortunately, the Labour government has conveniently shelved these recommendations, including reforms to strengthen freedom of speech and the protection of journalists.

The government had shunned an Opposition omnibus bill back in January 2022 to implement the inquiry’s recommendations. It is doing the same now when it argues against the need for these reforms.

The obstinate attitude of the government is hard to understand, especially after the Fenech trial brought to light the complex web of networks that gravitate between the corridors of power, the world of business and the shady underworld. The interplay between these three worlds will remain unless the state creates the necessary firewalls and tools to minimise the risk of grave wrongdoing.

If Fenech’s trial showed us nothing it highlighted the legal lacunas that allow some to get away with anything because they are protected by the powerful, who find solace in an environment that champions impunity.

This country needs a mature discussion between politicians of goodwill to enact all the reforms necessary to strengthen democracy and the rule of law.

Thirdly, there is also the need for higher ethical standards for politicians and people in public office. Although this can be legislated for, it is also a question of what behaviour should be tolerated. The anything goes mentality is this country’s biggest problem because it allows wrongdoing to fester, creating a situation where acting correctly becomes uncomfortable. Malta may have its own particularities that make it hard to avoid the problems associated with proximity but this is no excuse for not trying to do the right and decent thing.