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Here’s the full English translation of the speech I gave at the last vigil for Daphne:
In October of last year, we published a documentary in which I interviewed John Sweeney.
Among the many memorable things he said in that interview, he described the three sieges that Malta’s been through in its history:
The Great Siege, the siege of the Second World War, and the siege we face today.
A full-blown assault of dirty money, organised crime, and violent threats against anyone who still has enough of a spine to take action against corruption.
In 1565, The Great Siege ended when Mustafa Pasha and the 40,000 people he brought with him were massacred at the end of the battle.
In 1945, the Second World War was only brought to an end after the dictators who attempted to seize the world found themselves buried beneath the soil instead.
Today’s siege never ends. It’s a frozen conflict that nobody’s winning.
They didn’t need to kill us indiscriminately, which is what happens in a war.
They killed one of us who was willing to risk everything in pursuit of the truth; that murder was enough to cast a dark cloud over the whole country.
On 16 October 2017, they didn’t need to come aboard Luftwaffe planes or Turkish boats.
They had already invaded the financial system, the police corps, the office of the attorney general, and every board and executive committee they could find.
They weren’t wearing armour or an intimidating uniform with a sword or a pistol hanging on their waist.
They came in suits and ties, wearing a smile and telling us that Malta is for all of us.
We can spend hours debating the value of monuments which remind us of such horrible events.
After all, there seems to be no shortage of experts about monuments, all of a sudden.
The truth is that the monuments you see behind me serve as a reminder of the highest example of what it means to be human.
We still remember The Great Siege because there were a few thousand formidable soldiers who, in spite of the grievous circumstances they faced, showed the kind of courage that earns you a permanent place in the collective history of Europe.
We still remember the Second World War because, in spite of the horrors, the brutality, and the industrial-scale violence, the history of this conflict is littered with stories of individuals who sacrificed everything for the common good.
This is why we come here to remember Daphne Caruana Galizia: because she displayed formidable courage in the face of insurmountable circumstances.
This is the power that her memorial bears: it is a symbol of courage.
Daphne reminds us of what good people aspire to: to fight for justice, whatever the cost.
To look evil right in the eye and challenge it instead of ducking your head and stuffing your pockets with money.
This is what people like Neville Gafà can never understand – dedicating yourself to sowing seeds of hope against blind, childish hatred instead of breaking things and throwing them away.
That is why they see no other option but to destroy this memorial once and for all; that is why they want us to forget who Daphne Caruana Galizia was.
Neville Gafà and his corrupt masters cannot understand the courage that the Knights showed, let alone the kind of courage that Daphne displayed.
Friends, remember that the people who wish to eradicate this memorial speak only in the language of cowards, people who pile hate on the victim while making a living out of sucking up to the aggressor.
The courage that you are showing by being present here tonight eclipses the cowardice of whoever comes here in the middle of the night to remove placards and candles.
You can make the country sick with corruption.
You can fill up every ministry with yes men.
You can even create the perfect climate for the premeditated murder of whoever dares oppose you.
You can do lots of things to extinguish all hope that we will be rid of you.
What is certain is that you will never understand what courage really is.
With this false patriotism that defends a physical monument but buries the rule of law in the process, you only show us what kind of desperate depths you are willing to reach.
You can try and eradicate a symbol – you will never eradicate human courage.