NGOs commissioner claims Repubblika breached law by ‘instigating political propaganda’

Civil society group Repubblika has rebutted accusations and a threat of legal action by the Commissioner of Voluntary Organisations, in which it is accused of breaching the law regulating NGOs.

“We consider your letter to be a blatant attempt at silencing us. You single us out because we dare to raise our voice against the manner in which the country is being governed,” wrote Repubblika president Robert Aquilina in the group’s reply.

“This is not merely our right. It is our duty as a civil society organisation. In this context, you will be met with the strongest possible resistance on our part against any action you take if you attempt to take this matter further.” 

The Office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations’ lawyer Maria Scicluna Criminale has accused the NGO of acting in breach of the law and Repubblika’s own statute on the sources of its funding.

The OCVO also questioned Repubblika’s use of its funds, asking whether it was paying high rates and expenses when “such purposes and objective could be obtained by other means.”

Guarantees and securities provided by its members meant the organisation was being run as a foundation, as opposed to as a voluntary organisation, said the OCVO, going on to claim that Repubblika had a “strong element of private interest in the running of operations.”

“In view of the above provisions which are similarly provided in the Statute of the organisation, it is unequivocal that the organisation does not qualify as a voluntary organisation but as a private interest foundation in terms of article 31B. of the Second Schedule, and therefore it is in breach of the Voluntary Organisations Act (Cap.492).”

The office further accused Repubblika of breaching that Act by being “highly involved in political matters” and was “instigating a political propaganda and publicity”. 

“The organisation should be aware that in order to qualify as a voluntary organisation it shall not be politically affiliated or related in any other manner whatsoever and shall be independent from government involvement,” Scicluna Criminale wrote as she called on Repubblika to amend its statute, to avoid further legal proceedings.

Repubblika came out fighting, countering that its fundraising methods are “are entirely normal and certainly not carried out in any manner that is in breach of the law”.

“We consider your letter to be a blatant attempt at silencing us. You single us out because we dare to raise our voice against the manner in which the country is being governed,” Repubblika president Robert Aquilina said in his reply letter.

“This is not merely our right. It is our duty as a civil society organisation. In this context, you will be met with the strongest possible resistance on our part against any action you take if you attempt to take this matter further.”

Aquilina said Scicluna Criminale had examined its statute prior to the organisation’s foundation in January 2019 and had not flagged any issues at the time.  “Nothing has changed since then except for, apparently, your determination to use an interpretation that is stretched beyond snapping point in an attempt to suppress us in the performance of our democratic duty,” Aquilina wrote. 

The OCVO auditor has also scrutinised the NGO’s accounts. “You are also perfectly aware of the sources of the funds we have raised and how they have been spent. You had already unilaterally hired your auditors to look at our finances. We had responded with the information you required almost a year ago and you have made no adverse comments since then. If you had really found anything untoward, it would have made it to your letter or in some other form of communication,” Aquilina said.

Aquilina also strongly refuted claims that Repubblika had taken part in or organised “political activities”.

“This assertion is entirely gratuitous and unfounded in fact and at law. To be clear: Repubblika is not a political party, it is not controlled by a political party and it does not militate in favour of a political party,” he wrote. 

He added: “Repubblika is made up of people who have opinions they are willing to express. If as a result this causes displeasure to people in political authority, this is the latter’s problem. Such an activity is not a crime or a breach of any law, neither that governing civil society organisations nor any other. On the contrary, the activity of expressing oneself freely about political matters is a fundamental human right and it is your duty as a state official to ensure that it is protected to the fullest extent. 

“Instead you seek to suppress it. It is a function of democratic life for civil society organisations to call out wrongdoing in government conduct and to do so freely. Any law that is written or applied with the purpose of. or used to suppress that function is unconstitutional and in breach of the fundamental human rights of anyone who functions within and through such organisations.”