[WATCH] Lassana Cisse murder a ‘terrorist attack’, activists say three years after racist killing

On the third anniversary since his death, activists have demanded justice be done with Lassana Cisse and his family.

“Such acts of violence have to be remembered, not forgotten or silenced,” Moviment Graffitti activist Christine Cassar said on Wednesday. “This was a terrorist attack meant to instil terror in our own community.”

Lassana Cisse Souleymane, a 42-year-old migrant worker from the Ivory Coast, was remembered on Wednesday, three years after he was murdered in a racially-motivated drive-by shooting.

Cisse was killed on 6 April 2019 when he was shot at point blank in Ħal Far by two men who passed by him in a car.

A month later, two soldiers, Francesco Fenech and Lorin Scicluna, were charged with Cisse’s murder and the attempted murder of two others who were with him at the time of the shooting. The soldiers were also charged with carrying out a separate hit and run attack the previous February.

Fenech and Scicluna pleaded not guilty and their case is ongoing but in court police said the murder was racially-motivated.

On Wednesday, several NGOs gathered in front of the law courts in Valletta to commemorate Cisse and demand justice. They also called for action to be taken to end racism.

Earlier, former MP Rosianne Cutajar said on Facebook that Lassana's murder was "an important reminder of the potentially fatal consequences of racism".

“It is of the utmost importance that we recognise Lassana’s brutal murder as the climax of the systemic and institutionalised racism which affects our society at every level, including: the courts, the military, health care services, employment, housing, and education. We are also concerned at reports of racial profiling conducted by the police,” Cassar said.

She also insisted that for “far too many years”, political discourse has fanned the flames of racial prejudice, while others have condoned discrimination by their silence.

“It is important for the Government to stress that racism and prejudice will not be tolerated. Only then will we start seeing real change in the public and private sectors,” she said.

Ousman Dicko, a family friend of Lassana Cisse, also addressed the event. He expressed his, and others’ anger at the lack of justice that has been served. “We are doing our best. We send emails to everyone. Yet we don’t have an answer or authorization from the authorities.”

He said authorities should step up efforts to deliver Lassana Cisse’s body to his family. “His mother told us that she fears she will never see her son before she dies. That is unfair.”

Addressing the crowd, criminology student Claria Cutajar said silence in itself is a message. “To stand idle and do nothing, is to excuse what has happened.”

“When you remain indifferent, you are siding with the oppressor,” she said.