[WATCH] ‘The system failed us’, family of Sion Grech say in protest

The family of Sion Grech have called out the institutional failures which led to her death in a protest held outside the courts in Valleta on Thursday.

“We were not even informed that her body was found by the police, we had to learn through third-parties,” her niece Adiel Grech said.

Last January, a jury has returned resounding not guilty verdicts in the trial of two men who were accused of murdering 20-year-old Sion Grech in 2005.

52-year-old Ismael Habesh from Libya and 55-year-old Faical Mahouachi from Tunisia were indicted for Grech’s murder in 2005.

Grech’s body had been found, dumped in a field after she was stabbed 17 times.

The family said proceedings were riddled with mistakes from the prosecution, with over 50 witnesses contradicting each other and lost evidence amongst other errors.

“Meanwhile, her parents died with the hopes that justice would be served for their daughter,” she said. “Questions still remain unanswered, and the murderers are still out in the open.”

NGOs also questioned whether the inaction by local authorities was due to the fact that Sion was a transgender sex worker, and why the fact was given such importance in the court case.

“It’s like authorities forgot she was human after all,” Alex Caruana from the Malta Gay Rights Movement said. “It seems we are ignoring violence on sex workers, or just accepting that its part of the job, and that is wrong.”

MGRM also questioned who will shoulder the responsibility for the authorities’ failures in prosecuting the case. “Who is responsible for this negligence? Who will tell us why this happened?”

The NGO said it wants assurance by authorities and government that situations like Sion’s never repeat themselves in Malta. “Before this happens, we will not rest.”

Also present were members of the Malta Gay Rights Movement, Graffitti Movement, Young Progressive Beings and the Women's Rights Foundation.