Muscat loyalist tests activists and authorities with Caruana Galizia placards

'I’ve just been to the Great Siege monument to exercise my right to freedom of expression,' Neville Gafà wrote on his blog. 'Now the time has come to see whether they (ta’ Daphne) respect others’ freedom of expression'

15 October 2024, 1:05pm
by Matthew Farrugia

3 min read

Neville Gafa posed in front of the makeshift memorial after placing the placards

The former OPM employee Neville Gafà, a Muscat loyalist who placed himself on the warpath against critics of the former prime minister, placed placards with unflattering news headlines about Daphne Caruana Galizia at the memorial for the slain journalist.

Blogging about his stunt, Gafà taunted supporters of Caruana Galizia on the eve of the seventh anniversary of her assassination, with a placard of one of the journalist’s blogs remarking on the death of Margaret Thatcher and of former Labour prime minister Dom Mintoff, ‘Do by all means speak ill of the dead if they were influential in life.’

“I’ve just been to the Great Siege monument to exercise my right to freedom of expression,” Gafà wrote on his blog. “Now the time has come to see whether they (ta’ Daphne) respect others’ freedom of expression.”

Gafà was referencing previous attempts by the Labour administration to clean up the flowers and posters left at the Great Siege monument, which in 2017 was turned into an impromptu memorial for the journalist. The clean-ups, often viewed as deliberate attempts to rile activists, stopped after Robert Abela’s election as Labour prime minister in January 2020.

Gafà specifically addressed the judge Joseph Zammit McKeon, over his 2020 ruling in favour of activist Manuel Delia in the case he filed against then justice minister Owen Bonnici and the director general of cleansing, Ramon Deguara, for carrying out the clean-ups.
Gafà said that should his placards be removed, he will place them there again.

Gafà posted pictures of the placards, referencing Caruana Galizia’s post on “speaking ill of the dead if they were influential”, which concerned a previous post in 2012 that celebrated the death of former Labour prime minister Dom Mintoff; he also posted headlines referencing an unpaid VAT bill by the journalist, and another court sitting dealing with a domestic dispute with her husband.

'Small man, big ego' - Occupy Justice Malta

Reacting to the news, NGO Occupy Justice described Gafa’s action as “nothing beyond a petty, attention-seeking stunt.”

They stated that they will not be removing the placards.

“This man, who was at the centre of the medical visa scandal involving millions of Euros, and who is yet to face justice. The man protected by his puppet-masters, who acts with complete impunity. This small man who not only harassed Daphne when she was alive, but continues to vilify and mock her in death.”

Placards removed

Later on Tuesday afternoon, MaltaToday went to the makeshift memorial, however the placards were nowhere to be seen.

This newspaper asked NGO Repubblika whether it was behind the removal. The NGO's President, Vicki Ann Cremona stated that they did not remove the placards, adding, "and frankly, we don't care what Neville Gafà does. Our focus is on justice for Daphne and what she wrote about."

Similarly, Occupy Justice's Pia Zammit stated that the NGO did not remove the placards.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson from the Cleansing Ministry told this newspaper that the Cleansing and Maintenance Division was not behind the removal.

Matthew Farrugia is a staff reporter at MaltaToday