The monthly vigil for truth and justice held on Saturday, 74 months since the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s brutal assassination, heard how “Daphne should have been preparing for Christmas too,” from Repubblika Vice President Alessandra Dee Crespo.

“Had Malta been a normal country, a state which does not murder its citizens for doing their work, she would have been with us,” she said, reminding attendees of the importance of never forgetting Caruana Galizia and her work.

Crespo said, “The fight for justice does not have a season”. In what she called the seventh Christmas without “redemption” Daphne deserves, “The fight for justice is the best gift we can give our country.”

Clinical psychologist Benna Chase spoke of the value of integrity in society, claiming that “in a country where some of our politicians blind us with becoming rich overnight to the detriment of others… with integrity, we become richer persons in character.”

She challenged the audience to stand against “a country rapidly descending into chaos”. She said the situation was “seriously compromising our mental and physical health”, as evidenced by the various challenges Malta was facing.

She said the loss of green spaces and “the destruction of nature,” Malta’s “inundated” health system, infrastructural issues, pollution and hazardous construction industry all served as evidence.

She called on all those attending or following the vigil to raise their voice against the issues “brought about by greed and corruption”.

A public inquiry into the assassination of Caruana Galizia concluded that the State was responsible for her murder by creating a culture of impunity that allowed those who commissioned it to feel secure there would be no consequences.

The Maltese government has yet to implement recommendations in the public inquiry, published in 2021.