Mintoff photo to stay at memorial as reminder of years of violence and corruption, activists say

A sizeable crowd attended a vigil in front of the law courts on Friday evening to commemorate the fourth month since Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered in a car bomb

A sizeable crowd attended a vigil four months to the day Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered, as activists said Dom Mintoff's photo would stay at memorial to remind of 1970s and 80s violence and corruption
A sizeable crowd attended a vigil four months to the day Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered, as activists said Dom Mintoff's photo would stay at memorial to remind of 1970s and 80s violence and corruption

A sizeable crowd of people gathered outside the law courts this evening, to commemorate the four months since the brutal murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The vigil took place at the foot of the Great Siege monument, which has doubled up as a makeshift memorial for Caruana Galizia. On Friday morning, photos of Karin Grech, Raymond Caruana and Dom Mintoff were placed by an unknown individual alongside Caruana Galizia's photo.

Dom Mintoff's photo appeared to have been moved behind a flower pot
Dom Mintoff's photo appeared to have been moved behind a flower pot

The move came after the Valletta council earlier in the week rejected a motion put forward by a Labour councillor to remove the memorial and clean up the place.

Read also: Mintoff, Karin and Raymond photos appear on Valletta shrine for Daphne Caruana Galizia

Speakers at the vigil made reference to the three photos, with the overarching message being that the photo of Mintoff, who died a natural death unlike Grech, Caruana and Caruana Galizia, would not be removed. Mintoff's photo was placed behind a flower pot that partly obscured it.

Mintoff’s picture would serve as a memory of the “political violence and corruption” of the 1970s and 80s, the speakers said.

Referring to this week’s local council meeting discussing a motion to remove the memorial, Louiselle Vassallo from Occupy Justice said that “we have witnessed some of the hate Daphne had to endure.”

Taking a pot shot at Labour MP Glen Bedingfield, who wrote on his blog that the memoral to Caruana Galizia should be placed somewhere innocuous, Vassallo asked what kind of government objected to the mourning of a murdered journalist. "What kind of government wants us to be out of sight and out of mind?"

Kevin Wain from the Civil Society Network said little had changed since the brutal murder, and "little has changed in Malta for decades".

"We have Mintoff’s photo [at the memorial] to remind us of those years of violence," he said.

Photo cards were handed out to those in attendance, and flowers and candles were placed in front of the memorial.

As the brief commemoration ended, people made the peace sign and sung the national anthem.

Activists will be meeting again on 16 March, five months from the murder.