SOS Malta head Claudia Taylor East expressed a sense of “despair” and “betrayal” by Malta’s justice system as she addressed a crowd at the monthly vigil for assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia on Wednesday.

This is the 52nd month since the murder of Caruana Galizia, who was brutally murdered outside her home on the 16th of October 2017.

“As we feel betrayed by the very slow wheels of justice; as we grapple with a sense that, ultimately, justice may not be done; as we long for a sense of peace and serenity in a society that has known little over the past decade; I ask you to stop and think of the society we would like to build,” Taylor East said.

The length of the court case into the murder is something that has previously been highlighted by both international press freedom ngos as well as the Council of Europe’s Special Rapporteur Pieter Omtzigt.

In her speech, she emphasised how “lawlessness” and “greed” has taken over society: “I fear our value system has been replaced by an insatiable appetite for wealth.”

Taylor East went on to highlight the abundance of hate speech in our society. “Free speech encourages debate whereas hate speech encourages violence,” she said, encouraging those present to shift discourse in conversations and on social media.

Repubblika members Alessandra Dee Crespo and Robert Aquilina, and Occupy Justice member Clemente Dujardin also addressed those present.

In his speech, Aquilina looked back on the 52 months since the assassination, and at everything that has been accomplished by civil society since, as well as the difficulties throughout. He said that despite these difficulties, they have remained determined and kept on fighting. He encouraged those listening to remain committed to the cause.