What Simon Schembri’s case says about Robert Abela’s priorities

Nothing exposes a government’s priorities quite like the things it chooses not to fund. Malta can find millions for festivals, propaganda campaigns and political vanity projects, yet it cannot find enough judges or courtrooms to hear the case of Police Officer Simon Schembri, who has spent eight years waiting for justice after losing an arm in the line of duty.

Police Officer Simon Schembri was doing his duty on that fateful 15 May 2018.  The father of three tried to stop a 17-year-old who was driving a silver Mercedes and who, just days before, had been caught driving without a licence and without insurance following a traffic accident.  But Liam Debono didn’t stop.

Instead, he ran the police officer over and dragged him a considerable distance as he sped away.  Simon Schembri suffered catastrophic injuries.  His lung collapsed, he had extensive severe friction burns causing loss of large sections of his skin cover, multiple fractures of ribs, pelvis, clavicle, sternum, hip socket and sacrum, heavy blood loss and the loss of his upper limb below the elbow.  Doctors struggled to save his life.  He underwent multiple surgical procedures.

Schembri testified that he spent 25 days in hospital, 15 of them in the Intensive care unit. He underwent five major surgical procedures and was still waiting to undergo further surgery. Schembri could not return to his former duties as a traffic officer.

He sustained over 66% permanent disability.  Schembri was lucky to survive that massive trauma. But his life was turned completely upside down.

But if that weren’t bad enough, Schembri has been put through years of mental torture, left waiting for the trial of the 17-year-old who ruined his life. It’s been eight long years of anguish for Schembri.

With typical understatement, Schembri told The Times of Malta he was “hurt and frustrated” when the court informed him it could not set a trial date because it was too busy.

“It cannot be right that victims like myself are forced to endure this stress”, Schembri said. “Every court appearance is a major source of trauma for me; I cannot sleep the night before a hearing, nor the night after, because I relive that moment.”

Schembri didn’t complain about losing his limb or the physical torment he had been through. But he cannot bear to endure this nightmarish experience over and over again.

Year after year, he has put up with the injustice of watching helplessly as what should have been a clear-cut case has been depressingly drawn out.

There was no doubt about the identity of the person driving that silver Mercedes.

There was no doubt that Debono was underage and had no driving licence or insurance.

There was no doubt he was the same person who, just four days earlier, had been caught driving without a licence or insurance when he was involved in another traffic accident.

So why should a trial take more than eight years to start?

The shortage of suitable courtrooms for jury trials has become one of the principal bottlenecks in Malta’s criminal justice system.

While the government has many millions to squander on the temporary reflective Vision 2050 cube,  millions more to squander on the Mediterrane Film Festival and its ridiculous publicity billboards telling us ‘Beyond Together’.

Millions are spent on campaign videos, advertising, propaganda and useless information campaigns.  Labour diverted hundreds of millions to a shady company called Vitals Global Healthcare or to a bankrupt Steward Health Care in a fraudulent concession.  But it can’t be bothered sorting out our justice system.

Prime Minister Robert Abela has appointed the largest Cabinet in history with no thought to the wasteful disposal of millions of taxpayers’ euro.

Abela is too busy appointing to his Cabinet those who pilfered the national purse by securing “irregular” and “fraudulent” consultant posts. He’s also comfortable spending our money on multiple appeals against Freedom of Information decisions that went against him or his ministers.

Labour’s happy to funnel our money into all sorts of doubtful projects – to fireworks enthusiasts, carnival fanatics, band clubs, hunters and trappers.  It’s too busy appointing cronies and party loyalists to unnecessary overstuffed boards of directors and rewarding them for their services to the party with taxpayers’ money.

Labour is pretty content overspending every budget on every project to keep contractors happy. Ten million euro went on one Buġibba Square.  Hundreds of thousands went to Jason Micallef’s gravel at Ta’ Qali.  Gozo’s “Aquatic Centre” went way over budget, costing over €20 million, and was overdue by more than four years.

The government spent €78,000 on a single launch event for the Metro in 2021, only to dump the project. It’s spent at least €4.5 million on the Vision 2050 propaganda cube.  No wonder nothing’s left for what really matters.

Blinding people with parties and concerts, carnival and village feasts, bands and fun is far more of a priority than delivering timely justice for people like Schembri.

The driver, Debono, was granted bail just months after his arraignment in 2018.  In May 2019, he was driving again despite his ban.  By 2020, reports indicated that proceedings were expected to begin in November, but nothing happened.

Meanwhile, Debono was convicted of breaking his bail conditions, yet in late 2023 he was granted bail once more. In June 2024, the Constitutional Court dismissed his appeals, effectively removing any remaining obstacle to his criminal trial.

More than two years later, Simon Schembri was informed that he still has much longer to wait – the court’s just too busy to deliver justice.

Empty fluff just won’t cut it when what you’re craving is basic justice.