Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered on October 16th, 2017. Since then, several organisations such as Repubblika have put up banners at Valletta’s City Gate to commemorate her on the day of her murder. Protests were also organised on this date to call for justice over her murder.
Repubblika is now announcing that the Valletta Local Council is refusing to provide the permit to have these banners hung. The Local Council is refusing the permits simply by refusing to reply to the requests.
This is rather unusual since, so far, government and public authorities have rarely, if ever, declined these kinds of permits. We are entering a very slippery slope if the Valletta Local Council is actually preventing the banners from being hung, and it would be pertinent for the council to make a statement.
Full press release below.
THE VALLETTA LOCAL COUNCIL IS NOT A CENSOR
Repubblika and #occupyjustice regret to note that the Valletta Local Council is refusing to respond to our efforts to find a solution for the display of posters that are put up every year at the entrance to Valletta to commemorate the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
For the past several years, during the first two weeks of October, two large posters have been displayed near City Gate as part of the activities commemorating Daphne’s assassination. This year, as usual, we applied for the necessary permit to do the same.
The Local Council rejected our request and told us that not only City Gate but the whole of Valletta was reserved for activities connected with Notte Bianca and the Valletta Summit between 1 and 6 October.
We cannot understand how, in an entire capital city, space cannot be found for two posters. Notte Bianca takes place every year and in previous years it has never prevented these posters from being displayed.
Nevertheless, we tried to be constructive. We requested a meeting so that, together with the Council, we could find an alternative solution. We received no reply. We then proposed a number of prominent alternative locations in Valletta where the posters could be displayed. Still, we found no willingness on the part of the Council to discuss the matter with us and find a solution.
This conduct is abusive and unacceptable.
When a public authority prevents a message of public interest from being displayed in a place where it has been displayed for years, says that there is no alternative space anywhere in an entire city, and then refuses to discuss reasonable alternatives, the question inevitably arises whether what is happening is an act of politically motivated censorship.
The posters we are seeking to put up are not commercial advertising. They are an expression of civic engagement commemorating an assassinated journalist and conveying a message about justice, press freedom and the State’s obligation to fight corruption and impunity. This year our message is: “Justice Requires Action.” This is also the message of the public programme being organised by Repubblika and #occupyjustice to mark the ninth anniversary of Daphne’s assassination.
The Valletta Local Council is the government of our capital city. Valletta is not the property of the Council, the Government or any political party. It is a public space where citizens must be able to gather, protest, commemorate, criticise and express themselves.
When public authorities make that space increasingly smaller, the problem goes beyond two posters. The shrinking of the space available for freedom of expression and civil society action is a threat to our democracy.
We appeal to the Valletta Local Council to facilitate a solution. We have not insisted on one particular location. We have proposed alternatives and made it clear that we are prepared to discuss any reasonable arrangement concerning the location, transport, installation and removal of the posters.
Because of the Council’s delay, it may now be too late for us to obtain an effective remedy in time for this year’s anniversary.
But we will not accept this becoming a precedent.
Therefore, if the Council continues to refuse to facilitate a solution, we will seek the protection of the Courts for our right to freedom of expression and to ensure that a public authority cannot close down civic space in this manner. The Council has already been formally called upon to respond and has been warned that, in the absence of a response, further action will be taken.
Valletta belongs to the people. The people’s voice must be heard.
Repubblika
#occupyjustice
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