Sunday, 17th August 2008
PREDICTABLE
My piece in I M BECK on the comedic value of Dom Mintoff, of all people, being nominated for, of all things, a prize in a stunt organised by, of all groups, the Executive Bureau of the International Committee of the Gaddafi, of all people, Award for Human Right, sitting in, of all places, Algeria, caused the predictable stir in elf-dom and brought out an assortment of the usual suspects from the woodwork.
The column attempted to highlight the incongruity of Malta former Prime Minister being nominated for this prize, which includes a cash payment of no less than a quarter of a million of George W Bush’s (he could have been another contender) finest greenbacks. The reasons for this incongruity are legion and can be checked off against the human rights that our Constitution, like most others, handily lists.
Let us take, for instance, freedom of expression.
No sooner did the Times (of London) criticise Mintoff in some way, I remember not what, than it was banned from coming in to Malta. I have no idea whether this was on a direct order from Mr Mintoff himself or whether, which strikes me as more likely, some spineless sycophant somewhere in his entourage thought it would be sweet to render his own nose even browner than it was already. All I’m saying is that Mr Mintoff must have known about this flagrant abuse and did nothing to stop it.
When a perfectly harmless visual joke involving Macho Dom windsurfing in Msida during one of the repeated episodes of flooding that still plague the area, was published, its author, who worked for a government controlled bank, was heavily victimised. The way any publication or transmission that was not fully subservient to the regime was treated is a matter of public record, with criminal prosecutions for libel and slander proliferating.
When in 1979 the building from which The Times (of Malta, this time) was published was burnt down, it was not burnt down by Mr Mintoff himself, of course. He was horrified by the brutish crime. He even wrote to the owners telling them this.
Unfortunately for him, though, in many people’s minds this episode, and the one involving the ransacking of Dr Fenech Adami’s home on the same Black Monday, remains indelibly associated with Mr Mintoff’s government, not least because these horrendous attacks were the result of spurious reports of an attack on Mr Mintoff’s life, reports which, conveniently, no-one in authority made any attempt to deny.
We can move along and consider the right of freedom of association, a right particularly abhorrent to every regime that believes it is the acme of perfection, as Mintoff’s clearly did.
Students who chained themselves to the railings of Castille were arrested and their colleagues in the attendant demonstration beaten, with the Police significantly failing to cover themselves in glory, though they did have the decency to stop attacking the students when someone thought to start singing the National Anthem. Childish, perhaps, but it worked. I’m not saying that Mr Mintoff was responsible personally for the way the police acted that day, but he had just scuttled up the stairs to his office when the demo started, so he knew darn well what was going on.
Malta’s finest failed to distinguish themselves on many other occasions, of course, in breaking up demonstrations or – even less valiantly – failing to stop thugs sympathetic to the regime from doing just that. Recall, unless your powers of recollection are those of a Labour Elf, the way housewives protesting water shortages, doctors at the start of their work-to-rule, students on any number of occasions and many others were treated. In none of these instances was Mr Mintoff present, of course, but these and many other instances of thuggery happened on his watch.
It would be unfair to tar Mr Mintoff personally with the brush of thuggery, Rhodes Scholar and all that he is, but his successor but one has always been lauded by Labour’s Lil’Elves, without their noticing what they’re doing, for having eradicated the MLP’s thuggish arm. Talk about burying one Caesar’s memory while praising his heir.
All of the above, and many more such instances, make it difficult for me and people like me, to associate Mr Mintoff with the promotion of human rights, even if this is only in association with a patently self-serving and terminally delusional outfit such as the one that nominated him.
This is not to say that Mr Mintoff was some sort of Hitler or that he didn’t like puppies or behave like a perfectly normal guy in the bosom of his family, but the time of his hold over the country is indelibly scarred by a series of such excesses in the area of human rights that in and of themselves that these render him ineligible, except in the eyes of his adulators, for anything other than a booby prize for human rights.
This notwithstanding, we still get the tired old elves trotting out the same tired old stories in defence of all things Labour. And Mr Mintoff, clearly, is certainly all things Labour for these people.
Thus we have “Muscat Peter” (who used to call himself Peter Muscat) who raises the hoary old joke about all the bad stuff being perpetrated by the Nationalists as part of their quest to assuage their thirst for power. Any common or garden shrink will tell you that “Muscat Peter Muscat” and his fellow conspiracy theorists are in need of a good dose of reality, but that won’t stop them coming out with this, as they have been doing for the last 21 years.
And then you have the apologists, the ones who, like Joanne Micallef, in their hearts, know that Mintoff’s Malta in the Seventies and Eighties was a horrendous place to live but who hark back to days of former glory, when Mr Mintoff (he was the only one who ever seemed to do anything within Labour’s ranks, according to these people) got women the vote, introduced social services and free health care and generally stood up for the poor, the oppressed and the down-trodden.
Never mind, of course, that these things were going to happen anyway (even if the Nationalist Party of the time had inertia as its watchword and procrastination as its motto) and that it suits the Mintoff-era revisionists to pretend that he had a hand in doing what was going to be done anyway.
In the area of health care, it doesn’t occur to these people, incidentally, to be ever so slightly wary of raising that particular subject, given the chaos and mayhem wrought upon our national health system by Mr Mintoff’s way of dealing with industrial action when it wasn’t the General Workers’ Union taking it.
The same can be said of the way Mr Mintoff is characterised as having “wiped out illiteracy” (comment by one CJohn Zammit)
Talk about damning with faint praise: the educational system we were left with after his reign (1971 – 1987, for those whose memory is clouded) was a monument to incompetence, inept social engineering and classist myopia, which are not necessarily to be laid at Mr Mintoff’s own door but – hey – the buck stopped with him.
Perhaps for people like Zammit, Muscat, Micallef and Zarb Darmanin, all of whom saw fit to introduce their own personal take into the mix, rendering themselves susceptible to the compliment being returned, “Dom Mintoff deserves respect, not ridicule [because] he is the father of modern Malta.”
For the rest of us, whose ridicule is reserved not for Mr Mintoff but for the outfit that put the way he ran this country into the same paragraph as promotion of human rights, Mr Mintoff is, indeed, the father of modern Malta, but only because his machinations led to Dr Sant’s political demise and our taking our place in the Europe Mr Mintoff so despised (with such sweet irony).
As for the rest, let’s just agree to differ, before even more instances that should embarrass rather than reward him are dredged up.
Comments
What are you suggesting? That the 53% should govern? i.e MLP, AD, and AN?
I lost count many years ago of my many presences at the scene of the crime of all sorts and at forensic autopsies prior to the creation of the Forensic Laboratory.
You state "it was Mintoff who didn't want to concede government in 1982 when the PN got more votes but less seats in parliament". I used to always be on the forefront, protesting against such an immoral, albeit legal, state of affairs. I am on the forefront today protesting against the same immorality, this time committed by the PN, which party is governing with its minority of only 47% against the wishes of the 53% majority.
My principles do not change. Do yours? If yours don't, then call a spade a spade, ie Gonzi a model for hypocrisy, too.
As for Mr Mintoff and his latest award, I doubt if he would ever be acclaimed by the blue lackeys. I and honest citizens would, knowing the underhand and vile acts occurring in his time by the saints at the arms-laden quarters of 'democracy' itself.
How many levee de corps did you attend|?
I admit I still have light blue blood running through my veins. It mixes with red where there is common ground. But the problem remains in the minds of the deep blue lackeys who cannot accept criticism. Same applies to deep red herrings.
I was referred to as a floating voter the last election, by those who could see clearly. Not so by the deep blue apologists who instantly labelled me 'labour' just because I exposed their double standards and their vile acts.
Knowing all this, how would you mark me?
There is no excuse (underline ‘no excuse’) for bad English, with all the opportunities to learn and improve oneself that exist nowadays. I’m not talking of the occasional mistake but of a profusion of malapropisms, mixed metaphors, topsy-turvy syntax, etc. Reading many local blogs is like listening to a concert where half the orchestra are tone-deaf. By and large people write as they think and careless writing is usually the result of careless thinking; the “l-aqwa-li-tiddobba” syndrome has now reached exasperating proportions.
The people mentioned in one of my previous posts should spend more time - of which they seem to have plenty on their hands - reading and studying: Enid Blyton would be a good author to start with. They should also invest a little care to avoid at least the most embarrassing mistakes because, however profound and intelligent their opinion, it will not be taken seriously if expressed in ridiculous terms.
My anger is directed towards the MLP whom I consider to have failed their supporters for when I consider its leadership I have this persistent image of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse grazing at Mile End.
In 1948 I stood in what passes for a town square in Cospicua seeing and hearing Dom Mintoff for the first time that I recollect. Owing to an embarrassing incident I had given up trying to learn Maltese but a friend translated for me and I too fell under the spell of a demagogue.
Whatever Mintoff achieved within Malta he ruined Malta’s image abroad (1972 Helsinki was it?) and Malta became a sorry state (My God those awful biscuits) and I wandered disconsolately around the island ( I visited Malta twice a year with the RAF Operation Sunspot) and Malta recovered to some extent under the (spit) Nationalists.
I wish that I could see Malta once more-but the traffic!
Take my advice and do not allow yourself to be used by unreliable or dishonest sources. Let them pick the hot chestnuts out of the fire themselves instead of hiding behind the skirt of a lady.
The inadmissibility of "ex parte" witnesses pre existed 1975 by many years and created difficulties as far back as the days of Mr Flores who was often appointed court expert for handwriting, photography and fingerprints but worked from outside the precincts of the police to accentuate his independence. Members of the police force did act as "court experts" but only whenever they were so appointed in specific cases.
Throughout may years of service as doctor to the police force, in addition to assisting the police in the scientific investigation of crime (in accordance with the terms of my appointment), I do not remember any occasion when there was any need for the courts to appoint me as the court's expert in any trial. This does not mean that I was not all the time helping the police with my scientific expertise and experience.
There is some substance in what you write.
@Charles J Buttigieg.
Stop digging yourself into a hole Charles
Go for quality not quantity.
@Effie Carbonaro.
Yes I understand your position but MLP did much harm to Maltese education
Particularly Aggie.
Cottonera is effectively my home town (my late brother was born in Floriana) but the number of University students from the Three Cities is extremely low.
@ Albert Fenech. I too had problems with the Met!
I agree with some aspects of your comments on Dom.
Years back I heard Maltese in the streets shouting that Mintoff was Malta a nd Malta was
Mintoff and there is some truth there also for both had (and have) good and poor points.
Nothing in politics is black and white-except in Malta where it is red or blue.
May you live and enjoy another 100 years.
Do not bother to even ponder to answer the gutless, the cowards and the devious on these blogs. When their backs stick firmly to the wall (and that is becoming too often and clearly obvious), they jump out of line and report you to the teacher for something trivial and well outside the subject matter. They panic and become resolute in spoiling the fun, little knowing they always end up the laughing stock. These poor characters need to be treated with grown-up patience.
As for the Mintoff era, I do remember the man as a pain in the butt to the blue minority, of which I was a part. In and with hindsight I used to be fooled by the PN that we were the victims. Some years ago I discovered the truth, and this from within the PN itself, that made me sick and so disgusted at the underhand tactics.
The list of typos and quirky grammar got you a bit hot under the collar and during the process you committed misspellings yourself. (Your version is mispelling) Perhaps you should stick to agricultural expertise. Malta already has too many jacks-of-all-trades correcting English in excruciatingly horrible English. Pot calling the kettle black
Out of the sample which you provided I picked the ones that you selected from my exhaustive list of contributions.
Perhaps I shouldn’t dignify your nit picking with a response but I couldn’t resist the temptation.
1. attracts hatred and more divide (division would have been another choice)
2 I..have no difficulty to stomach people dignifying themselves (where’s the quirky grammar?)
3. Can’t get myself to make it a foregone conclusion (make it as, perhaps)
4. We strive on pique (‘thrive’?) (Strive = struggle, endeavour, try hard. Thrive=grow well, do well. Some people strive to pique their interest and point of view. Strive may be used in this context as well as thrive)
5 use this technique in a sharpened up manner (suave, sophisticated, and highly developed.)
6 made him up to look like the devil (for a Halloween party presumably) (my phrase was devil incarnate)
From what I have been told till 1975 the 'ex-parte' issue was not raised in our courts as the issue came about fifteen years later.
either you are political blinded or you are living in another world.do you know who gave the opportunity to the working class children to enter university,MINTOFF.in the era before mintoff to enter university you either had to be rich or you came from same noble family.nowadays you see man and woman caming from poor families graduate with honours.lot of people my age treat mintoff has a saint because he gave the working class people the dignity to keep their head aloft in these modern society.
@ im beck
to you know why my english stinks because at 12 years my father took me out of school to go and work so to have a decent living.before the dom mintoff era workers or slaves where payed with peanuts.it was him who gave the worker the minimium wage,it was him who passed the law that children had to be 16 to leave school.
And what a lot of fuss about beatings, people being chained up and all that jazz. History has yet to establish who was provoked and who did the provoking and with what aim. I was brought up in the Mother of Democracy country (England) and remember at 15 being beaten up by the Metropolitan Police for attending Campaign for Nuclear Disarmanent (CND) rallies at Trafalgar Square.
As usual you are tampering with the truth in your account of my curriculum vitae. In 1975 I was suspended from my duties as Police Medical Officer on trumped up charges of which I was not found guilty. The Public Service Commission rejected the request that I be dismissed but I was nevertheless illegally compulsorily retired "on grounds of public interest". This decision was later revoked as "a miscarriage of justice" and I was reinstated without any interruption of my accredited period of service.
Before my illegal compulsory retirement I had been pressing for the creation of a separately manned and equipped Forensic Laboratory Service with a vote of its own and I even submitted recommendations about the initial equipment for it. The creation of this Forensic Laboratory occurred during the illegal interruption of my career as Police Medical Officer. Previously I had helped the police in the scientific investigation of crime at a time when Dr Abela Medici was nowhere near the scene.
You yourself wrote "I sympathise with you for the hard time you went through during a Labour administration and I condemn such dastard behaviour". Grudging praise indeed from someone like you!
To go back to the subject: I am too young to know what Mintoff did in the sixties but all i know of him is that he brought down the Labour Party (his own party) from government in 1998. How can such a silly man be called great?
The education of so many of my generation was fractured by war and other considerations and I started a degree course at 43. Some sympathy might well be extended to those who struggle a little with English, for we may not be aware of circumstances. Tal-pepe do you say?
I am grateful to gentle readers of this blog for not attacking my British nationality-for that has been my fate on so many Maltese groups-even though I sometimes provoked those attacks.
To Mintoff though and it was a Nationalist, Prof Henry Frendo, who observed that Mintoff was the only charismatic Maltese politician since Strickland and the latter was no angel for he used his wealth to bribe voters. Both of course had British nationality and even closer connections than most Maltese of their period.
The suggestion that Mintoff might give his newly won pelf (deliberate use of archaic word) to charity is interesting, for otherwise some might go to his daughter who distinguished herself by throwing horse sh*t over the noble Lords at Westminster.
Some, of course might consider that the peers deserved, indeed needed, some fertiliser.
blog is the sanctimonious claptrap exuding from the keyboards of his protected cronies.
Please ask your ex-CID inspector to explain to you the difference between giving evidence as an ordinary witness and giving "expert" forensic evidence and opinion. Any police medical officer would be precluded from givimg this type of evidence because he would be an "ex parte" witness.
Incidentally, this guy needs to be taken lightly.
I admit that I know nothing about court procedure but from what I have been told by an ex -CID inspector you were not precluded from giving evidence in court in fact in 1979 the then police medical officer gave evidence in the trial by jury of an infanticide case.
malta history is filled with black humour but its seems that you are seeing black in the great duminku only.you seem the forget that he was the only person who gave dignity to the worker when others just wanted to make them slaves.
Who could ever forget the nuns sitting at city gate surrounded by orphans begging for money, or the urchins knocking at your door begging for something to eat? I remember quite vividly this happening in the 60’s and 70’s.
And the sad thing is that today in the new millennium there are 30,000 families who are exempt paying the electricity surcharge because they are on the poverty line. So have we now gone a full circle?
Of course, it would be curious to note that if Dom Mintoff were to donate the prize to charity would it be accepted graciously?
I don’t think that anyone would be daft enough to say, no thank you, because we don’t think that you deserved it.
But there again judging by some of the comments on this blog………I wouldn’t be surprised.
As some people have already mentioned this subject is getting well and truly out of hand.
You can argue about past political violence till the cows come home, it’s not going to change anything.
It’s all history now; events have been recorded for posterity and can even be researched on the internet. So what’s the good of arguing?
Anyway as far as I’m concerned one party is just as bad as the other.
I live for today, unlike most of the elder generation that subscribe to this blog who insist in living in the past.
I should explain that I am Maltese by choice, not by birth. I lived here during the so called turbulent years of the 70’s and 80’s and yet my family and I never encountered any problems, although I was well aware of what was happening.
The question is, do I think Dom Mintoff deserves the prize for human rights? In answer to that I would say why not? Doesn’t the eradication of poverty fit into human rights mode; I know that Mintoff was instrumental in doing just that by introducing Social Services.
I’m sorry to go off topic in this way but, while I do, in general, enjoy reading the blog and the readers’ comments, it is most irritating to assist to this systematic butchering of the English language. Here are some phrases picked at random:
deliver their spite (a corruption of ‘vent their spite’?)
manipulated facts of events
attracts hatred and more divide
inciting your hatred
criminals who played bodyguards (is it a board game?)
saddened political events; I am capable of calling wrongs
occulted the scene of the crime
I..have no difficulty to stomach people dignifying themselves
can’t get myself to make it a foregone conclusion
we strive on pique (‘thrive’?)
you like many of the likes of ABC (yes, I think someone should go back to their ABCs)
use this technique in a sharpened up manner
giggle to such...behaviour
made him up to look like the devil (for a Halloween party presumably)
I could go on but this little sample will do – oh, and I haven’t even tried to tackle the quirky grammar, the mispellings (not typos but real errors) or the creative punctuation.
after all, we do need some humour don't we?
its not salubrious that we as a nation tend to take everything seriously.......
@ Antoine Vella.
The Times is an English language paper isn’t it? Or do I detect a hint of sarcasm in your comment? Truth is that I do not exactly understand the message which you are trying to pass across. Is it my poor command for written English, your syntax, your pride for English and its attendant intolerance for the lack of proficiency or what? Did I come out too strong for you Antoine – sorry if I did perhaps it’s the problem of translating from Maltese to English. Would welcome a clarification of your telegraphic comment and we’ll take it up from there. Keith Grech, IM Dingli and Peter Muscat are capable to take care of themselves.
If you knew anything about court pocedure you would know that being the medical officer actually employed by the police department to give it scientific advice I would thereby be precluded from acting as an independent court appointed expert entitled to express opinions.
As usual you lie about me when you allege falsely that I am focussing on the murder of Raymond Caruana without mentioning Karen Grech. Two days ago I wrote a long comment on this very blog dealing exclusively with the Karen Grech case.
I am restricted by professional secrecy from divulging the full details of the remorseless pressure exerted from above on subordinate police officers forcing them to adopt inadmissible torture methods to extract confessions from suspected criminals in those best-forgotten days following the retirement of Police Commissioner Enoch Tonna.
After the change in government this tremendous pressure ceased to exist and the affected police officers could risk talking more freely. As a result, criminal abuses were exposed and a conviction secured of a very high ranking police officer indeed - "a known Labour supporter" (your words, not mine). The MLP was naturally most unhappy about this development and turned its guns on witnesses without whose evidence the conviction of this "known Labour supporter" would not have been possible.
Devoted followers of the MLP of that era would object, wouldn't they, that these crucial witnesses survived in the Police Force.
I would love to hear Dr. Saliba’s reasoning, if there is any, why a good number of the famous Police officers were rewarded for their notorious behaviour as soon as the PN were elected in office. Logic and common sense leads us to only one conclusion; that the notorious behaviour of these Police officers was an important part of the jigsaw to destabilise the country. If not why were they rewarded rather then disciplined?
Again, saying that political violence diminished to a vanishing point, when the PN were elected in office, is a blatant heresy and a political fallacy.A new political violence was born that rewarded those with blu eyes, even die hard common criminals ( blu eyed of course!) . Those who had a different political opinion were systematically intimidated abused and discriminated. Many of these are still crying for justice.
Do you have the courage to condemn this new form of political violence many suffered during the various PN Administrators?
I never considered Mintoff as a great PM and ABC did a great job to highlight most political crimes committed in the 80's. Without any doubt unforgivable sins. If one does not know his past, he is condemned to live hell again and again and again but if the lessons are learnt we can move ahead to a brighter future. In fact we lived in peace fort he past 20 years or so even under a MLP administration (22 months). With all the hic-ups during Alfred Sant's short term in office he knew when he had to call an election.....unlike Mintoff that extended his term by 5 years to condemn his own party to a lifetime on the opposition bench. Amazingly, the hand of Mintoff returns.....when he can't win he divides......the same happened in Boffa's time.....
Without any doubt this award is a farce which only serves to make our former PM richer.
I hope we can agree on these terms.
You want to lead by giving an example?
You hit the nail on its head, Charles. Your last paragraph is a photograph of the truth. No matter how distorted a picture they try to paint, the blue apologists and lackeys will never succeed in their devious trait.
I did post earlier on in this thread. However the mods censored my comments. I was not being libellous, but factual, especially about the Ray Caruana case. The truth hurts.
To my mind, the political violence vanished because the perpetrators got to their goal otherwise their struggle would have continued. Elementary isn’t it?
The fact that some tugs enjoyed police protection is hard to dispute however I still find it grossly strange to understand why the head of the infamous SMU as well as other notorious police officers were promoted to higher ranks by the Nationalist Government instead of the logical alternative. Could this have been a case of rewarding the fifth columnists?
the comedic value was the same when eddie fenech adami won the european achiever of the year.later it was found out that only maltese voted for that poll.naturally they were blue eyed.life is a comedy and you should know as all your blogs have comedic value
Perhaps you might want to consider posting in Maltese - your sharp thoughts are somewhat blunted when translated into English.
I do not hate anybody but I hate brazen attempts to distort the truth. I react in a civil manner to expose the falsehood and this sends people like you into hysterics. I never said that "the MLP will never change". It is my forlorn hope that its new leader would be allowed to accomplish an authentic change for the better. This would benefit the whole nation. What I said was that your antics are an obstacle to attaining this objective - hope you appreciate the difference.
I myself do not bring up old instances of MLP political violence but I resist the lie that it never existed or that it was excusable. I do this out of respect for the truth and hoping that some MLP leader will some day disown it categorically.
The Raymond Caruana murder is a political crime per se and cannot be politicised. Political violence diminished to vanishing point after that murder but only because the criminal thugs carrying it out lost police protection after the election.
But the comments of such oracles of doom and gloom , when cornered, prove that from repeated and manipulated facts of events, they have nothing to defend the wrongs of the PN.
Their comments is a perfect example of their deafness and blindness towards any opinion different from theirs and their opposition to freedom of thoughts and expression.
Their arrogant and hysterical behaviour towards anyone or anything that differ from their opinion is well exhibited in their comments and any illogical means is used to justify their wicked behaviour.. Unlike myself and many others they do not have the guts to condemn what is wrong and which ever party committed such wrongs.
Yes Charles I knew from day one ,that it is mission impossible in trying to open a closed mind to the realities of events. In the end, I achieved my goal and for that I must publicly thank Dr Saliba and ACB who run away.
I, too, agree with Keith 100%.You are right mate!
Thanks for your kind comment. Just for the record I am not a lawyer nor a member of the MLP. Given that we have the same name and surname it is often confusing. (Keith Grech, Attard)
Very well put Keith, you are the youngest and can drive the message home that all this bitterness only attracts hatred and more divide and no relevance to the younger generations. I had mentioned that the Mintoff administration had its sinners but the PN Administrations were not lily white either. The question is which one of the two was the worst evil. We point a finger at them and they point a finger at us. A mere continuous and nauseating battle of wits which is getting us nowhere.
But then you get people with so much hatred in their hearts for their opponents that they grab any opportunity to dig the past. Irony of irony they don’t do this as support to their party; they do it because they are hate mongers of the worst kind.
Peter, you and I need to take stock of the situation and accept the fact that we are not only wasting our time but we are also giving the opportunity to the hate mongers to perpetuate their l quest. “People like you are the biggest obstacle to any attempt to improve the MLP image.” According to Saliba. Analyse that.
My written claim was that "I analyse this information according to my erstwhile resposibility of a police medical officer whose official duty specifically included assisting the police in the scientific examination of crime". The truth of this is proved conclusively by reference to the official notice for applications in the Government Gazzette and not by quoting from your unidentified "reliable source". In actual fact my professional assistance was frequently requested and utilised by all ranks in the Police Force from Deputy Commissioner down to Police Inspectors in cases ranging from homicide, accidental death, explosions, bodily harm, drug related crime etc. I strongly suspect that your "reliable source" was nowhere near the Police General Headquarters during all this time.
I carried out these functions throughout my career until my illegal compulsory retirement "on grounds of public interest". Needless to say that illegal compulsory retirement would not have affected my previously acquired expertise in forensic matters including my previous experience as government pathologist in Ibadan.
You see, once more, it is not I who is twisting facts.
You know as much as I do that among those police officers who were apprehended
about the frame up you mentioned were later rewarded or promoted. Same happened with other police officers involved in the death of Nardu at the PHQ . This happened as soon as the PN was in office.
The shame is that throughout history the PN was surrounded by people who will twist all factual events and do all to gain power.TERRINU!!! I am sorry you are doing the same. The tactics of the PN and its blind supporters will never change.
You and your likes are terrified the truth will emerge and that is why you and others are constantly manipulating events that happened over twenty years ago.
Unlike you I always call a wrong a wrong whoever commits that wrong. You and your likes always point one way to cover your own party’s wrong doings.Shame!
It's Mintoff and Gaddafi we are talking about. Did you expect anything better. It's amazing that Mintoff won this award soon after a Maltese delegation left Malta to Libja. Mintoff was probably always on Gaddafi's mind but may have they have influenced the outcome. :) Keith Grech, Attard.
You are still inciting your hatred in whatever you write when it concerns MLP. I find that pathetic….. 30 years after you keep on bringing up topics which are now outdated (but obviously cannot be forgotten). Would you be so kind as to point out any incidents or political murders which happened after Raymond Caruana’s death? In your opinion MLP will never change their image because of people like Peter Muscat but I ask, what about you Francis? You fuel your hatred towards MLP based on facts that happened in the 70s and 80s……. haven’t you got any other aces up your sleeve which might be more related to the past few years? What changes do you want within the MLP to get your support? If they have young people within the party, than they are stupid and have no experience. If they have old characters, than you say they always have the same old faces. What do you want? Please explain to me if it isn’t that hard to accomplish.
Part 2
You know who should be ashamed in the Raymond Caruana saga..... well its people like yourself whose only target was and still is to politicise the whole matter. I guess the family members were more concerned about the death of their dear relative rather than to start pointing fingers at MLP thugs, while you are still using their pain to emphasis how bad MLP was and still is.
Part 1
You only pay lip service to a condemnation of frame ups. You are disputing the fact, established in a court of law, that there was a clear attempt to frame an innocent man and that the chief protagonists of this frame up were gazzetted police officers who inexplicably had the murder weapon in their possession and planted it on his farm. You may be better informed than I am on this score but the "criminals" identified in the law courts who handled this murder weapon at the material time, were members of the police force.
You should be ashamed of yourself suggesting that there was any attempt to fabricate the photographic evidence of the inherently horrific sight of an innocent youth lying in a large pool of his own blood. Nothing could have been more terrible than the plain truth. Shame on you for being so callous and insensitive towards the victim, his bereaved family and friends.
You must be one of those who believe anything goes if it could possibly help the party. People like you are the biggest obstacle to any attempt to improve the MLP image.
On a positive note, on the eve of the millennium our former Archbishop Mercieca, did the right thing and asked the Maltese public for forgiveness for the stance the church took in the 50’s and 60’s. It’s high time the MLP and PN do the same and bury the hatchet.
A very well known prominent man goes through the busy main street of his town with his brunette wife in a sports car witnessed by scores of spectators. An hour later he comes back from the opposite direction in a different sports car accompanied by a gorgeous blonde. Because the man was rich and famous somebody took a snapshot of the couple and sent it to a tabloid news paper which printed the infidelity story the following day with prominence. Naturally the story was corroborated by many eye witnesses. The Rich and Famous sued the tabloid for libel and won the case hands down aided by the indispensable version of the facts attested to by his wife. The facts- On his detour the gentleman were using his wife’s new car while his wife was wearing a blond wig which gave her a different appearance. Sometimes perception deceives us.
Please note that I always condemned any sort of frame ups and with same energy I condemn all sorts of cover ups. I am sure you feel the same.
What amazes me is the fact that a number of police officers who certainly had a hand in these heinous crimes you and I are referring to were rewarded or promoted by the PN Administration that followed.
Don’t you, like me, find this very strange or illogical?
May I ask if you ever questioned the number of persons present at the PN club when Raymond was killed or murdered? Many like me are not convinced about this. I strongly believe someone is covering someone. I will agree for the time being if you call this a theory or a speculation.But just for the time being. Capish ?
You know very well as much as I do that criminals do not really have any political allegiance and one day a criminal will come out in the open and tell the truth ( for a reward of course!). I am more then convinced that this will happen.
Our political history of that particular period will be re written.
Deny these facts if you can. Playing and twisting words will not suffice. They are short lived anyway.
I realise you failed to mention that the machine gun or bren gun in question changed many criminal hands,: criminals who didn’t share the same political beliefs.Also a good number of files and ‘evidence’ concerning a good number of cases disappeared or were lost or misplaced in the period 1987 -1996.
Also you failed to mention the ‘rewards or promotions’ by the PN Administration to a number of police officers who certainly played their part in the creating such a horrible and hostile environment we experienced then.
It is neither intelligent nor acceptable to close your eyes and ignore the fact that many well known criminals were fraternizing with senior PN brass. Criminals are always criminals and no Presidential pardon can change their criminal habits or criminal deeds.CAPISH?
The above are not speculations as you are trying to insinuate but public knowledge.
I will answer your query whether the MLP police considered the possibility of Raymond Caruana's murder being an "inside job". I do so with some reluctance because I acknowledge the fault of not suffering fools gladly - especially pretentious ones.
There is abundant evidence, proved during court proceeding, that the MLP police did consider very actively indeed the possibility of Raymond Caruana's murder being "an inside job". So much so that, in the total absence of any proof whatsover in support of that fantastic supposition, they resorted to the criminal act of planting the murder weapon, inexplicably in their possession, in the farmhouse of an innocent Pietru Pawl Busuttil in an unsuccessful attempt to frame him.
I mention facts and allow intelligent reades to draw their own conclusions. You fire away a string of hypothetical questions and demand answers from me which could only be conjectural. Could anything be more unreasonable!
No! I do not know that the body of Raymond Caruana was moved beyond what was absolutely necessary to ascertain if he was dead or alive or if anything could be done for him.
Journalists would arrive at the crime scene before the police because they would be more efficient at their job than the police were at theirs.
I do not know anything about missing files except that a mob led by a former MLP Minister ransacked the Law Courts.
I am convinced that the police of that period always did everything possible to to cover up the misdeeds of the MLP thugs but you should ask them, not me, for details.
Please note that the incidents quoted by me regarding the Raymond Caruana and Pietru Busuttil cases are facts proven in our courts of law. Please note also that there were dismissals from the police corp as a result of the abuses exposed by court proceedings.
No better evidence is possible to prove to any unblikered person that these are facts and not spculations on my part.
If you are so well informed will you please explain how a number of files and other incriminating evidence dissappeared , lost or misplaced between 1987 and 1996?
Finally I agree with you 100% when you wrote "There is no one more blind than the one who has eyes but closes them tightly so as not to see". You couldn't be more precise and correct.
Usually the police embark on a number of theories to solve a crime. The PN bombarded us with just one theory, which we heard so much about.
May I ask Dr Saliba, who seems so well informed about the behaviour of the police, if another theory ( eg. that it was an in side job) was ever considered? We all condemn any kind of frame ups and with same rigour we must condemn all cover ups.
I notice that you meticulously elaborate your points in such a way as to divert attention in certain instances from the real facts.
At one point in your reply to Mr. C. Buttigieg you stressed the fact that you aren’t on a speculative drift but rather quote facts. So if I may ask, since you are so convinced about the fact that the police occulted the scene of the crime of Raymond Caruana and also fabricated evidence in order to frame an innocent person, being facts (as you quote), how come you can’t prove your point and maybe embark in a spree for justice to have these officers prosecuted?
Please note that I am not implying that you might not be right but you bother me when you point at people that they are being speculative when yourself, might be following the same path.
Please verify and admit the truth that, contrary to what you allege, I have already answered your question and that i have already explained in detail which political party "gained" from the murders and the way tthat these murders were "investigated" by the police of that time. It is a blatant lie that I did not respond to that question.
Most significantly, the weapon used in the murder of Raymond Caruana was the same one used previously for spraying NP clubs with bullets, inexplicably it was at the disposal of the police who planted it in the farmhouse of Pietru Pawl Busuttil in an unsuccessful attempt to frame an innocent person. Even before the appointment by the court of a firearm expert to examine the rifling marks on the murder bullet the police were already frightening PP Busuttil with the information that the bullet which murdered Caruana came from the muzzle of the submachine gun planted in his farmhouse. How could the police have known this without some "guilty knowledge" of crime details which should have been known only to the murderer?
Your "reliable sources" are not reliable at all as you could verify for yourself by consulting the Government Gazzette notice that called for applications for the post of Police Medical Officer.
You are in a speculative mood; I quote facts. It is most unlikely that murders could ever be solved due to the proven fact (not speculations) that the police, instead of investigating conscientiously the Raymond Caruana murder embarked on a proven attempt to fabricate evidence and to frame an innocent person. There is no one more blind than the one who has eyes but closes them tightly so as not to see.
You wrote “I do not have access to any information that is not readily available to the intelligent general public. I only analyse this information according to my erstwhile responsibility of a police medical officer whose official duty specifically included assisting the police in the scientific examination of crime.” I have it from reliable sources that during your tenure of office with the Police Force your duties and responsibilities did not include forensic expertise. Nevertheless if you deny my source I will take your word for it. CMRU may also provide us with this clarification but they require a formal request and their response will take some time.
We are debating a sensible topic, correct input is important.Please do not take this as an offence because my request for a clarification is well intended.
Personally I pray to God that this mystery will, one day be solved but I prefer to think that whoever the perpetrators were they were acting on their own initiative be they Labourites or Nationalists. Otherwise we are in a mess.
Gain I ask you two simple question which you never respond to: Which political party gained from such henious crimes? Which party has a motive to create such instability in our country?
Anyone with an open and mind can answer such questions. A manipulated mind sees events as his/her masters orders.
@Dr Francis Saliba Part 1\1
You said, “Raymond Caruana was not specifically targeted. The target was anyone who happened to be in the line of fire of those who sprayed the NP club with submachine gun fire.” I will try to keep my cool to give you a civil response to this. With all the good will in the world I ask you, by what stretch of the imagination do you expect us to accept a totally unfounded conclusion of yours? Your conjecture may appear to be plausible but it’s still a conjecture. The irony of this is that you know exactly where you want this to lead, that makes your definite statement immoral.
In part I may arrive at a similar thesis, however I can’t get myself to make it a foregone conclusion, and you can because you do not wear blinkers like Labour supporters do.(sic)
"In my opinion the book 'The Fortress Colony' by Dr. G. Pirotta explains in details the political-social environment of those days."
I agree. It is arguably the most objective depiction of the real sequence of events that has been published, and no one can say that Dr Pirotta is, by any stretch of the imagination, an MLP 'apologist' or a Mintoffian lackey.
Those who are not familiar with this book can tune in to Campus FM and listen to extracts from it being discussed by Fr Joe Borg and the author.
Do not run away with any idea that I do not condemn unreservedly and equally the murders of both Karen Grech and Raymond Caruana simply because neither of them had been specifically targeted. Both murders followed as a natural consequence of deliberately intended grievious criminal acts.
My regret is that in both cases the police force does not appear to have exerted maximum effort "to bring criminals to justice" as was its duty. The police acted as mere cogs in the MLP propaganda machine even to the extent of fabricating evidence in the case of Raymond Caruana's murder. In the case of Karen Grech I never discovered any evidence that the police explored diligently all possibilities to identify the true culprit but concentrated instead on providing fodder for the MLP propaganda machine.
I do not have access to any information that is not readily available to the intelligent general public. I only analyse this information according to my erstwhile responsibility of a police medical officer whose official duty specifically included assisting the police in the scientific examination of crime.
I do not remember your grandfather but I knew and worked with members of the virtuous Boffa family, a bunch of true honest gentlemen and a real credit to the memory of Sir Paul. Lara my late father, a staunch Boffist till the end, used to tell me that during the Boffa Administration the PN made him up to look like the devil incarnate and immediately after the split and his trouble with Mintoff he was proclaimed a living saint.
The PN was and still is the most conservative party we ever had; it is also the strongest survivor and the oldest. Other political parties will come and go yet the PN will be here for a long time because they are the best survivors. The result of the last election speaks for itself. But are being strong and a superb survivor the by-product of righteousness? Look around you and you’ll get the answer.
The PN propaganda machine works well for them, they can sell fridges to Eskimos. But does that make them good and honest sales people? They sold us JPO as the greatest Environmentalist we ever had and some people still believe it.
Yes, Dr Sant was right to call an early election - you are either a leader or not a leader and again, Mintoff showed himself what he truly was, when he pushed Dr Sant to call that election - he never worked for the Party, never worked for anyone except for himself!
As a consequence of all that, Malta became member of the EU.
But still, yes, Mintoff was wrong not to follow the leader!
There, now, satisfied?
Raymond Caruana was killed by accident same as Karen Grech. I would like to ask where you get your information from since you go in such dept but when it came to actually handing proof in court about any of the cases mentioned…. Well we all know the result…. Zero!! What about ic-Caqwes u l-Pupa.. again, inconclusive.
I must admit (because I’m not a hypocrite like some other persons writing within this blog) those times were the dark ages of Malta. I come from a Labour minded family and have big arguments with my same family members regards that era since I don’t have blinkers on and can judge right from wrong without being led to an answer by anyone.
But there are always two sides to a coin! You might have valid reasons to express your hatred towards MLP based on the facts above but please, don’t expect persons like my parents who had really bad treatment under PN legislature to adhere to your opinion. I call that hypocrisy.
Raymond Caruana was not specifically targeted. The target was anyone who happened to be in the line of fire of those who sprayed the NP club with submachine gun fire.
Those who stood to gain were all those who were systematically trying to terrify NP supporters so that they would not attend legal political meetings out of fear for being shot, gassed, pelted with stones or from legitimately frequenting their clubs by the fear of being shot dead or incinerated or assaulted by mobs who surmounted police barriers as happened at Zebbug.
Above all one must mention those members of the police force who had access to the murder weapon in the Raymond Caruana case and who had the facility to plant it in Pietru Paul Busutil's farmhouse so as to frame that innocent person.
If you consider your incomprehensible comment as "food for thought" then, excuse me, but I would rather die of hunger.
According to you the heinious crimes mentioned by you "were detrimental" in putting the PN in office". Give one reason why your imaginary criminal masterminds would resort to them unless they came from the MLP fold.
At that time NP supporters were being used for target practice by the SMU and their imported North Korean instructors. They could not be held responsible for any cover ups and frame ups being cooked up by a police force run by MLP ministers.
Is this your idea of "logic and common sense"?
All those years of study and you have the cheek to challenge Peter Muscat with the following question: -
'Who stood to gain, and who did in fact shamelessly exploit the incident to gain a maximum unscrupulous political advantage from the sordid murder of an innocent girl?'
Why don't you pose the same question but having the main character's name changed to Raymond Caruana?
For the sake of any future comments, both cases are very sad and shouldn't have been politicised.
Now you must be beginning to understand what I meant when I wrote "Now comes the difficult part, especially to those who wear blinkers". My previous comment already contains the answers to some of your anticipated questions but to realise it one must first of all switch on his analytical cerebral functions.
Here are two rhetorical questions to spoon feed you with a clue. "Did the MLP police seriously investigate the possibility that during that eventful Christmas there were two, not one, defective parcel bombs in the post, that neither was meant to explode but that the one being opened by an innocent unsuspecting girl had its defective circuit reactivated accidently?"
Who stood to gain, and who did in fact shamelessly exploit the incident to gain a maximum unscrupulous political advantage from the sordid murder of an innocent girl?
Correct me if I'm wrong but did you have the same opinion re Mintoff in 1998 when he lead Malta to a premature general election? I believe PN portrayed him as the saviour of Malta and the Maltese. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t be part of the EU for sure.
We can very well talk about about various subjects which I know might be of interests to both of us. I know a Borg Cardona who spent some lovely time in Gozo and was active in our Gozitan way of life.
Sharing different political opinions should never be an obstacle in having a cappucino or a drink or whatever and revive some intresting old memories. I be willing to cross over myself and enjoy meeting a older friend I haven't met for such a long time.
Does GFA rings any bell?
On the other side of the coin, no can deny the fact that these hedious crimes were detrimental in putting the PN in office. Logic and common sense will certainly brings you to the conclusion that the mastermind behind these hedious crimes was not a common street criminal. The cover ups and the frame ups that followed these crimes were very well planned and executed.
Not only the victims are still with us but so are the perpetrators and the masterminds that created such a volotile and most terrifying period in our history.
My point always was and still is that the PN is to blame maybe much more then the MLP from such terrible experiences we all suffered at that particular period. The PN had all to gain while the MLP had all to lose from such volotile environment.
Food for thought: The 'end result' can never justify such inhuman and terroristic means.
I am greatly annoyed by the futile attempts, always from the same sources, to rewrite a completely false version of the recent MLP history of violence at a time when the victims of that violence are still among us. This deliberate distortion is aggravated by futile attempts to justify it by patently false insinuations of comparable violence from the opposition. These foolish attempts should be stopped by the new MLP leadership itself. They are causing it much more harm than a frank admission of the truth, an expression of genuine regret and a declaration that they will not allow such days to mar our political environment in the future. That will not please a strong and unrepentant section of the MLP but it would improve the floating votes' perception of a genuine MLP change for the better.
Obviously I cannot answer for Mr C Camilleri whom I do not know at all. Had the same question been directed at me I have a ready reply - but I warn you that you will not like it.
The following analogy explains the MLP apologists' way of thinking:
A man comes out of his house on his way to work when another man starts shooting, hitting and injuring the first man. The police arrest the injured man accusing him of illegaly being in the way of the bullet that him.
Then, all I can say to you is, we are a very poor and sorry country indeed!
Which I don't believe we are. But anyway.
Well, thank God, times have changed and people, the floating-voters, are still wary to ensure that they are not reminded of those dark days when Mintoff ruled like a tyrant, bedding Europe's dictators such as Ceaucescu of Romania, etc....
And thank God for Alfred Sant, who had the courage and the wisdom to move the Labour Party away from that ogre!
I would love to see live coverage of him accepting the prize. It would be so hilarious! But so humiliating for our country!
Back to the debate, I had just posted a simple question to C.Camilleri; feel free to respond if you wish. Meanwhile let’s try to relax, enjoy the blogging and stay tranquil. Doctor’s orders LOL.
The Karen Grech murder. The facts:
1 The Mosta bomb was defective and it was handled safely by the intended recipient causing no harm.
2. An unintended person handled the Grech bomb with fatal consequences. Karen was not an intended victim.
3. Solving that murder promptly would have exonerated scores of innocent doctors and Nationalists who were in fact defamed by unsubstantiated allegations by the MLP propaganda machine profiting from an "opportunity not to be missed".
4. A campaign of defamation did in fact follow and persisted until MAM interrupted it by a judicial protest.
5. The MLP had ten years at its disposal to bring the criminal to justice but it omitted to do so. This state of affairs benefitted only the MLP propaganda machine - certainly not the doctors, and not the NP.
6. The police force of that time has a proven, undoubted track record of frame ups, tampering with evidence, failure to bring MLP thugs to justice and even colluding with them on many occasions.
Now comes the difficult part especially to those who wear blinkers. Cui bono?
@ C. Camilleri. You are harbouring a misconception. Let me assure that I have no connections with the MLP; I am merely an ordinary supporter and feels very tranquil in this position as it allows me to be critical when I feel that criticism for Labour is due.
As far as my accusations are concerned you will do well to try to defend your camp by other means instead of feeling sorry for the harm I am allegedly doing to the Labour Party.
Let me put one simple question to you which you may answer with a mere yes or no my friend. Do you not find it extremely strange that a good number of Ranking Officers in the Police Force allegedly committed atrocities not excluding assassination during Mintoff’s administration and were then promoted to higher ranks by the 1987 PN Administration, while Dr. Pullicino a known Labour supporter was sent to prison after having his life and that of his family threatened with a bomb on their doorstep? Do you or do you not find that disgustingly strange? Is-sewwa maghruf habib?, yes or no would suffice.
You should try the novel experience of thinking first and hitting the keyboard later. That way you would not have to stoop to invective as a poor substitute for logical argument.
As I have written already, knowing who killed Raymond Caruana is not the same as being able to "prove it beyond reasonable doubt" in a criminal court of law, or after the lapse of years being able to haul a suspect before the said court if in the meantime he may have moved on to join his ancestors among the dear departed . Doubly so if it is a proven fact that in the meantime a politicised police force has been busily engaged in planting the suspected murder weapon in the farmhouse of an innocent Pietru Paul Busuttil.
That should not be beyond your capabilities of understanding after I have explained it twice.
@ Muscat Peter, Jo Said, Ivan Attard and Phillip Dupuis. In our court of laws witnesses are protected in that they may object to answering questions on ground of self-incrimination ... that any evidence from co-offender would be inherently unreliable and declining. In simple and to the point terms this means that the witness may ignore the question or questions put to them.
Quoting ABC: “Merely for the record, so that readers will not think I am lost for words, these are the people being ignored”. Unquote.
Out of court and on this blog in particular normal and not so normal people adopt this approach when they are beaten on the grounds of logic or when they find it convenient for them to ignore a question. A sophisticated person would use this technique in a sharpened up manner while a coarse amateur will resort to insults and\or to motivating people to send the other person to Coventry. Brothers me and thee are now in Coventry, totally ignored by the Christian Democrats on this weblog.
@Charles J Buttigieg
You seem to now more than the average Maltese person about these cases, you can help the police solve them if you have the evidence.
Come Sunday I may be reveling in the best that the world has to offer: British gold, cheese from the south coast, best Port from Portugal, Belgian chocolate, and who knows, a Cuban Cigar perhaps :)
Now it is a touch sad to realize that the prospect of toasting Maltese gold is as unlikely as meeting a suave building contractor.
So why is it that when Gold unexpectedly glints in our eyes (ok so it is not athletic gold but who is complaining), we tend to press the self-destruct button?
Mintoff is a winner (warts and all). Malta’s major global operator is a joint Malta/Libyan marriage blessed in the wake of Mintoffian energy. Air Malta is one of the few Maltese service providers to rise well aboe the mediocre.
As long as the ruling class will continue to devastate the incredible Mintoff experience, they will continue to win elections that will take Malta from the mediocre to the putrid.
p.s. A gold on the track! Hurray!
This freedom of expression and thoughts in action gives the Times all the credit it rightly deserves. May other Maltese sites learn from the Times.
WELL DONE TIMES!
Indeed the truth hurts and your puerile action to ignore those who object to your fallacies proves you have no other way of defending yourself except to run away. Keep running because no matter what the truth will keep you running forever. Your fallacies of events will never make you have a nice rest. Run run and run.
@ Albert Leone Ganado ... Well said and though like yourself I was/am no "Mintoffjan", Mintoff ( whether you love him or hate him) is by far the greatest Maltese personality of the 20th. century. His merits are well superior to any Maltese political figure (past or present).
Who knows we might have another rising star. But that only the future can say.
Before coming out with a blanket apology, to cover up for your protégées, you should have gone to my short check list and attempt a plausible answer accordingly.That would have given you some credibility.
I still remember visiting a long lost relative of mine in Cottonera who had been ostracised by the family for slipping down the social laddar and dishonouring the family and seeing in his room a framed photo of Dom with a candle in front of it.. That and the subsequent chat I had with him made me understand a lot.
So whether we had a hard time or not in his years of Dominance we have to give it to Dom that he is probably the greatest Maltese personality of the 20th century.
C J Buttigieg,
Muscat Peter,
Jo Said,
Ivan Attard and
Phlilp Dupuis.
There may be others (grateful if anyone could remind me) and I've no doubt that these last mentioned will resort to schoolyard taunts at this point.
I'll live with it.
May I add; Who tried to bribe two Gozitan MLP Memembers of Parliament to croos the floor? But as the Maltese saying goes " Li tixtieq il-ghajrek jigri f'darek". An so it happened because a Nationalist MP crossed over rather then vise versa.
The 'hiring of a sharpshooter' which I mentioned in one of my comments I will make public in the coming weeks. Yes the time is ripe and the public must know about this henious never mentioned attempt on MIntoff's life.
Of course, the oracles of the PN have tried for many years to hide the truth of events and gives us a much different picture. But truth will always prevail in the end.
My point is as I said in an earlier comment: If any Political Party has a motive the create instability in Malta it surely wasn't the MLP.Simple Logic and Simple Common Sense tells all.
1. Who killed Raymond Caruana?
2. Who killed Karen Grech?
3. Who killed Wilfred Cardona?
4. Who tried to assassinate Richard Cachia Caruana?
5. Who planted the bomb on Dr. Laurence Pullicino doorsteps?
6. Who planted the bomb at the Sliema Police Station?
7. Who were the police officers who killed Nardu Balzan?
8. Why was the officer in charge of SMU who was also responsible for the fracas and shooting at PN supporters at Rabat, promoted to a higher rank in 1987 by the newly elected PN Government?
9. Who dropped the balustrade at Zebbug?
10. What was the arson, found by the police, doing at the PN head quarters in Pieta?
11. Who ransacked the residence of Joe Debono Grech?
12. What went on during the clandestine meeting under a bridge at 2 am between Zeppi l-hafi and EFA?
13. Why was Mintoff never taken to court for the alleged atrocities you are all talking about?
14. How many cases of discriminations committed by the PN were proved at our court?
15. Ditto as per above by Mintoff’s regime?
Uppsss 200 words limit, sorry.Will continue next time.
But personal experiences cannot distance me from the truth of events. My point is that the PN played an important part in having such a dreadful and exploding situation then.
Nontheless, I am capable of calling wrongs and condemn all wrongs. Sure there was corruption , intimidations, discriminations and other grieviances then. Haven't we experienced the same negative behaviour during different PN Administrations? Why does persons like ABC never mentions the 'dark stories' of the PN eg TERRINU!
My whole point is that both parties have a lot to answer for and one cannot twist the truth to give a different picture from the real truth.
Or maybe you like many of the likes of ABC believe that the PN has some divine Right and are above t