The quest for justice

A young man put up a banner outside parliament calling for justice for JeanPaul Sofia. For some reason, he was escorted away from the scene by the police, allegedly acting swiftly on a report.

Rumour has it that the young man was reported for wearing a balaclava. That is apparently sufficient grounds for his removal from the protest site until the police ascertain that he is not a threat to the public.

The police needed an excuse to at least seem to take action against a protestor. The same police who develop world record levels of sloth and reluctance when it comes to making use of publicly available information that might lead to a crime.

Much has already been written about the inept inactivity of the police of the land about the information concerning possible crimes that have surfaced in the press.

Take David Casa’s court case following a press report involving suspected gangster Christian Borg. According to the MEP, the information in the press should have been sufficient to warrant an investigation (and maybe prosecution).

Instead, nothing. Nada. So a politician must apply to the Court to highlight police inaction.

Then there is Robert Aquilina’s Pilatus publication. It is, after all, mainly made up of a series of documentary proof that has already been submitted to a Court. Better still, the publication defies a court order to keep such information under wraps.

Aquilina risked this act of defiance to provoke action and investigation. Once again, the Courts are being rattled into action, or so it is hoped.

The quest for justice has become a hard task involving the shaking of Lady Justice into action and out of her lethargy.

To be fair, the Courts have complained that they are severely understaffed and that unless this problem is addressed, it is useless to appoint new magistrates.

Present and former members of government toy with the courts in a cat-and-mouse game. Prime Minister Robert Abela will whip up delayed justice as a smokescreen to avoid the awkward questions about the calls for a public inquiry.

Disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat’s left-hand man stalls a PAC committee using court procedures as an excuse.

The disgraced prime minister himself persists in defamation cases against the heirs of a deceased journalist – abusing the courts of law where and when it pleases him.

Meanwhile, the Courts give out mixed messages on the fleeting nature of justice in our times. The news of a light, suspended sentence imparted on a reckless driver who had wrecked the life of a bank manager only served to dent even more the little faith the public may have in the justice system.

Lady Justice is traditionally depicted as blind. The idea is that Lady Justice can do no favours and will treat everyone equally. The blindfold, in Malta’s case, seems to serve another purpose. No matter how hard the quest for justice is fought, there seems to be nothing wrong. Justice is blind to the injustices that surround us.

We have reached a point where injustice is depicted as an achievement. Robert Abela’s boast at the Labour Conference that government expenditure on its workers has doubled to €1.2 billion since 2013 is a case in point.

Behind that figure lies the scandalous mountain of profligate spending on friends and friends of friends. Behind that figure lie the fiefdoms built on persons of trust and a bloated civil service used to curry favours with the electorate.

Abela openly boasts that more of your money is being channelled into the pockets of his Party’s stooges and props.

He is right to boast about this. No amount of yelling “injustice” will change the fact that, come the next elections, Abela’s Labour will have bought its way to a new term in office.

And justice, blind as ever, will not even afford to weep.