User:Zugraga/CP2

21 November
On 20 November, civil society groups led by Repubblika, Occupy Justice, and manueldelia.com, announced a protest in front of the Prime Minister's Office, Auberge de Castille, calling for Joseph Muscat's resignation. In their statement, the groups said that Muscat should have demanded Schembri and Mizzi's resignations when their names first appeared in the 2016 Panama Papers release. The groups said they did not invite the Nationalist Party, or any other party, for the demonstration, but they would not oppose anyone wanting to join. At the end of the protest, protestors walked to the makeshift memorial to Caruana Galizia at the foot of the Great Siege Memorial. Those present then gathered outside Parliament, shouting "barra, barra" (out, out) and "Mafia, Mafia '" at Government politicians. At the same time, opposition MP s walked out of Parliament over Muscat's failure to dismiss Schembri and Mizzi. As pressure for their resignations mounted, Muscat insisted he was protecting no-one. Muscat reiterated there was no indication linking politicians to the Caruana Galizia assassination. Muscat admitted that Schembri's “business plans” with Fenech were legitimate. Protesters also assembled in the streets around the Parliament buildings, heckling and stopping a number of ministers' cars from leaving the area. Justice Minister Owen Bonnici's car was targeted by protesters as it left parliament, with the Minister describing how he stood by the police force, two of whom sustained minor injuries in the course of doing their duties. In a statement, Speaker Anġlu Farrugia said steps ought to be taken against those who exceeded limits and manifestly breached the law, including through the use of violence.

22 November
On 21 November, another protest was called for 22 November in front of Castille. The organising groups stated that Muscat needed to shoulder political responsibility because had Muscat not failed to have chief of staff Keith Schembri and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi removed, "Daphne Caruana Galizia would still be alive." The groups said that “to protect his friends, Joseph Muscat [...] suffocated the rule of law, allowed impunity to be sown and as a result seen Malta reaping violence." Honest MPs on both sides of Parliament were asked to remove “the corrupt and the accomplices of murderers” while embarking on a “cleansing of public life” in Malta. Thousands of protestors met in front of the Auberge de Castille, renewing calls for Prime Minister Muscat to resign, saying that justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia was being stifled. Organisers appealed for calm, after a police officer was injured on Wednesday during a similar protest.

25 November
Another protest was called for 25 November 2019. On that day, pressure continued to mount for Mizzi and Schembri's resignation, with cabinet members commenting publicly on the need for the country not to protect murderers and money launderers, while Malta's reputation was suffering "almost irreparable" damage. Faced with the pressure, Mizzi insisted "I stand tall... I have nothing to do with this case," while Schembri refused to comment. Fake €5,000 banknotes were thrown at Parliament, while peaceful protesters chanted “barra” [out] and “ħallelin, postkom ġo Kordin” [thieves, you belong in prison]. Three rows of steel barricades kept protesters away from Parliament, while Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was jeered after exiting parliament at the end of Monday evening's parliamentary session.

26 November
As the investigation into the Caruana Galizia murder continued, following further pressure, first Schembri and then Mizzi resigned from office. Schembri then faced questioning by police over allegations of his involvement in the Caruana Galizia case. Another minister, Chris Cardona, suspended himself in the wake of other police investigations. Prime Minister Muscat thanked Schembri, saying "I thank Keith for his hard work, he played a crucial role." A protest was held next to Parliament, hours after these political resignations. Parliament descended briefly into chaos as opposition MPs shouted "mafia" at Government benches, Foreign affairs minister Carmelo Abela and parliamentary secretary for the elderly Anthony Agius Decelis were restrained by fellow Labour MPs after they crossed the floor. They were riled by opposition Nationalist MPs shouting “thieves, mafia.” Prime Minister Joseph Muscat attempted to calm MPs, but the chaotic scenes escalated when he entered parliament. The resignations sparked a governmental crisis. Hundreds of people gathered outside cried "shame on you" and "killers", with the angry crowd pelting ministerial cars with eggs and coins as they left. Muscat was shielded by security officers as he exited on his way to a Labour executive meeting in Ħamrun. Protesters carried banners, flares, drums, megaphones and flags to get their message across and shouted: "Daphne was right". The protest then moved from outside parliament to Castille Place, where protesters were addressed by Manuel Delia, one of the organisers, and other speakers. Protesters vowed they would protest until Muscat's resignation.

27 November
Another demonstration called for Wednesday 27 November began as a protest march, ending in front of Castille. This was the fifth protest in less than a week. Following the disturbances of 26 November, steel barricades were placed in front of parliament, Auberge de Castille and on Merchants' Street, as police beefed up security ahead of the 27 November planned protest. On the day, both major political parties announced mass meetings for 1 December, with various civil society members and Caruana Galizia family members asking people to stay away from rallies organised by political parties. Both events were eventually cancelled.

The Institute of Maltese Journalists appealed the police to begin issuing press conferences to update journalists and media on developments in the Caruana Galizia case. Civil society had repeatedly questioned why news on the investigation filtered through from Muscat, and not from official police spokespersons.

After the main demonstration, protesters blocked traffic in Floriana as they demanded further resignations.

28 November
An unannounced protest was held on 28 November, following reports of the release of Schembri from arrest. Fenech had claimed Schembri was responsible for the Caruana Galizia assassination in October 2017.

29 November
In the early hours of the morning on 29 November, after the protest which began on the evening on the day before, unknown security officials clashed with demonstrators and journalists were kept under lock and guard within the Ambassadors' Hall in Auberge de Castille. Maltese and foreign journalists were kept against their will after attending a press conference organised at 3.00 a.m. Tensions escalated after the security officials refused to identify themselves with journalists, or tell them why they were not being let out of the building. The decision to keep journalists locked in the Ambassadors' Hall was condemned by the Institute of Maltese Journalists.

University lecturers and students blocked parts of the road around the Msida skatepark in protest on Friday, 29 November, in a protest organised by the Kunsill Studenti Universitarji (KSU). Holding placards reading "assassins", "blood is on your hands" and "Muscat kriminal" (Muscat is a criminal), they later moved their sit-in protest to Regional Road.

News broke that Muscat was named by Fenech in his first statement to the police. Before the protest, police were briefed and reminded of their duty to protect the protesters.

Protesters began a protest march in Valletta at 6.30 pm, holding posters and Maltese flags while protesting at the government's handling of the criminal investigation. The protest followed news earlier in the day of Muscat's imminent resignation. After the main protest a smaller crowd gathered beneath the Great Siege Monument in front of the Daphne memorial where flowers and candles were left in tribute.

30 November
Moviment Graffiti organised a protest in the morning, with organisers saying that there was "nothing socialist, leftist or progressive about what the government had allowed to happen over the past few years, despite the fact that the Labour Party was supposed to hold true to these values." Protesters reiterated calls for Muscat to resign following the Caruana Galizia probe, and they were joined in their protest by author and activist Immanuel Mifsud, and Arnold Cassola, amongst other politicians, NGOs, academics and activists.

On the day, MaltaToday published a photo of chief of staff Keith Schembri with the alleged middleman in the assassination plot, Melvin Theuma, at the Prime Minister's office in Castille.

1 December
Thousands of people descended on Valletta on Sunday, 1 December demanding Muscat's resignation. Marching to shouts "Daphne was right," "Justice," and "Assassins," protesters insisted that Muscat was not their prime minister. Close to 20,000 protesters filled Republic Street in Valletta, by far the largest turnout at the time in weeks of protests aimed at Muscat's government. A protest march started in front of Parliament at 4 pm and moved to the square in front of the law courts, where protesters were addressed by activists. The protest was the largest one so far, with the pressure mounting on Muscat to step down. The protest came hours after an emergency meeting of the Labour Party parliamentary group gave Muscat free-reign to decide on his exit. The crowd was addressed by anthropologist Ranier Fsadni, Eve Borg Bonello, a 16-year-old student, and former Nationalist Party president Mark Anthony Sammut.

Late in the evening on 1 December, Muscat announced his plan to resign on national television. Muscat stated that he would stay in office for a further 42 days. Caruana Galizia family members, the Chamber of Advocates, law experts, Moviment Graffitti and other critics feared that Muscat's insistence on remaining in office was a conflict of interest with investigations into suspects closely associated with him. Muscat insisted that "the case showed that Malta's institutions work and everyone is equal before the law."

Several plainclothes policemen were seen in strategic positions in Valletta taking pictures and footage of the protesters, some were seen walking with the crowd and snapping pictures during the anti-corruption protest. Police surveillance was contested by a legal association, who stated it will continue to document such cases and to share its analysis with Amnesty International and European counterparts.

Eve Borg Bonello, a 16-year old speaker at the protest, received intimidation for her speech during the 1 December protest. Upon reporting these threats to the police, a policeman advised Borg Bonello to "keep her opinions to herself." While acknowledging this may have been a well-meaning piece of advice, she returned to the same police station assisted by a lawyer, to file an official police report.

2 December
On Monday, 2 December 2019, access to Valletta's Freedom Square was heavily restricted as activists began to gather in front of parliament for the evening protest. Police also asked businesses located on Republic Street and Ordnance Street to close early in anticipation of the protest. Authorities laid out hundreds of metres of steel barricades in the square in front of parliament in the afternoon, considerably limiting the area in which civil society activists were able to protest. Opposition MPs walked out of Parliament, saying they will not attend any function with Muscat as prime minister. Protesters blocked politicians from leaving the Parliament building during the demonstration and demanded the resignation the Prime Minister. Protesters threw carrots and eggs - an allusion to the murder suspect Yorgen Fenech - at MPs including Gozo minister Justyne Caruana. While trapped in Parliament, some Government MPs began taking selfies and communicating with their supporters on social media. Protesters also wanted the Prime Minister to take the political responsibility for the death of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

All three of Daphne Caruana Galizia's sons were present at the protest. Protesters blocked all exits from Parliament, trapping MPs for a couple of hours between Ordnance Street and Freedom Square in Valletta. Protesters taunted the PM to come out, while Muscat was giving his final speech in parliament ahead of resigning in January 2020. Unable to exit from the main streets around Parliament, some MPs were forced to escape via tunnels linking Parliament with the Valletta Ditch. The lights in the ditch were switched off to distract protesters and their aim, with Muscat leaving Parliament from the basement exit. One of the organisers then moved the protest to Castille, with the MPs allowed to leave Parliament by the crowd.

A journalist was assaulted by staff members of the Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights Clint Camilleri, as she attempted to ask whether he believed the Prime Minister ought to resign immediately. In a sign of the increased tension, Nationalist MP Karol Aqulina and Labour MP Clifton Grima started pushing each other, although they were quickly separated by people surrounding the two men. They shook hands afterwards.

Later in the day, the Office of the Prime Minister located at Auberge de Castille was also egged.

Some kilometres away from the protest, government supporters turned up in Ħamrun, in front of the Labour Party's headquarters, in an unofficial rally in support of Muscat.

The Institute of Maltese Journalists condemned the violence and intimidation towards journalists at the demonstration in front of the Labour Party headquarters, as well as by government staff during the civil society protests in Valletta.

3 December
Early on Tuesday, 3 December, protesters greeted Prime Minister Muscat as he entered Castille, calling for his immediate resignation. Muscat was meeting with a delegation of MEPs dispatched to Malta for an urgent mission following a political crisis sparked by developments in the Caruana Galizia murder investigation. Justice Minister Owen Bonnici and Muscat were egged on their way to meet the MEPs at Castille. The square next to Auberge de Castille was then locked down by police barricades.

Breaking news suggested the Prime Minister had remained in contact with Fenech via regular text messages. Muscat had claimed to have last met Fenech more than a year ago, but the Prime Minister recently admitted to at least one social meeting in February 2019. Fenech sent the messages when he was already the prime suspect under investigation, with Muscat being fully briefed by the security services.

Further news revelations indicated how two members of staff from the Office of the Prime Minister were allegedly mentioned in the middleman's testimony, with a former member of Muscat's security detail tried to pass on a message to the men accused of murdering Caruana Galizia.

In the evening, protesters assembled outside the police headquarters building in Floriana. They demanded that the police arrest and interrogate Keith Schembri, the prime minister's former chief of staff, for his connection to the murder investigation of Daphne Caruana Galizia. A large copy of a letter written by the alleged middleman in the assassination plot was attached to the closed gates of the headquarters. In it, the middleman named both Schembri and Yorgen Fenech as being part of the plot. Protesters held EU and Maltese flags and sometimes shouting "mafia" and throwing fake €5,000 notes demanding the interrogation of Muscat and the arrest of Schembri. Protesters thanked the police on duty, particularly for not putting six rows of barricades in front of protesters, as had happened in Valletta some days earlier.

On 4 December, Parliament adjourned for its traditional Christmas recess amid great political turmoil. Opposition MPs boycotted the last sessions of Parliament as Muscat refused to resign immediately, with Parliament unanimously approving the Budget estimates in a marathon vote session. Muscat took a selfie with Government MPs at the end of the sitting.

7 December
Maltese living or working in London, United Kingdom, organised a protest for 7 December in Parliament Square. Frustrated by a sense of helplessness, organisers aimed to draw international attention to the situation in Malta. Dozens of activists carried placards, and held banners, calling for Muscat's immediate resignation. On the day, Muscat attended a private audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican, with the meeting being shifted from an official visit to a private audience after a number of protests and letters were written asking the Pope not to meet with Muscat. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte cancelled a lunch with Muscat, opting for a private meeting at Palazzo Chigi instead.

8 December
Another protest was called for Sunday, 8 December, demanding the immediate resignation of Muscat, and the investigation of all those named in the unfolding criminal investigations. The protest received the endorsement of leading independent news organisations in Malta, notably Times of Malta, The Malta Independent, MaltaToday, the Shift, LovinMalta, as well as civil society organisation such as Aditus, Moviment Graffitti and KSU. Fewer policemen and barriers were prepared by security organisers than in previous demonstrations. Thousands walked on Castille in a protest march led by Caruana Galizia's parents, carrying flags, placards and chanting calls for justice and against corruption. The crowd was then addressed by Andre Callus from Moviment Graffitti, who called for an end to the blind partisanship that led Malta to this situation and that Muscat's unparalleled defence of Schembri left a "bad stench" in Castille. Christian Pace - an LGBT activist - addressed the crowd, and insisted the LGBT community was not "a catchphrase", and that he was shocked that Muscat kept promoting the LGBT successes of his government right up to his last weeks. Addressing the crowd, former Partit Nazzjonalista candidate Norman Vella linked the stories coming out of the court proceedings directly with the Office of the Prime Minister. With Theuma's testimony, it was now clear public funds were used to pay for the assassination. Closing the demonstration, Manuel Delia insisted that the two candidates for PL leadership had insulted the country by not apologising to the Caruana Galizia family. Muscat, he said, was an agent of a Mafia who did not want to have anything change after his resignation.

9 December
Early in the morning, Moviment Graffitti staged a sit-in at Castille demanding Muscat's immediate resignation, storming into the Prime Minister's Office building from a side entrance. In a peaceful protest, around 25 activists entered Castille with drums and whistles, chanting "shame on you'", "mafia", "criminals" and "barra." Activists made no attempt to enter the administrative office areas, and Muscat was not in the building. The offices were guarded by AFM soldiers, with more arriving when the protest began, without intervening.

When journalists arrived to cover the scene, protesters were locked inside the entrance hall, with the photographers and reporters moved out by security officers. Police officers said they were acting on "orders". The police stopped Caruana Galizia family members from joining the sit-in protest, while protesters blocked the street outside Castille.

12 December
As the middleman in the murder of Caruana Galizia was testifying in court, the Maltese community in Belgium staged a protest outside the Maltese Permanent Representation to the EU at Dar Malta in Brussels. This coincided with the opening of the European leaders' summit meeting, which was attended by the Prime Minister. Protesters demanded justice for the assassinated journalist, amidst reports that other European heads of state were uncomfortable with Muscat's presence at the European summit. There were claims staff members of the embassy also joined the protest. A large poster of Daphne Caruana Galizia was placed on the main doorway.

The Justice Minister, Owen Bonnici, confirmed that Keith Schembri had always been present at briefings on the murder of Caruana Galizia. He said he would feel "betrayed" if the allegations that Yorgen Fenech knew what was going on in those meetings were true.

13 December
On 11 December, a protest was called by NGOs for Friday, 13 December - coinciding with Republic Day, a national holiday in Malta. Insisting that Republic Day belonged to the people, NGOs encouraged people to attend. There were fears that the protest, coinciding with the official ceremonies, would clash with the official events marking the day. Overnight, a group of protesters stood guard on the makeshift memorial to Caruana Galizia, holding a vigil throughout the night, to ensure that the memorial was not removed again by Government employees.

During the protest, police presence was heavy to ensure the peace between protesters and Maltese celebrating Republic day, in particular around Castille. President George Vella, on his way to the Grandmaster's Palace for the official ceremonies, was greeted with both applause and jeers, with the crowd protesting, whistling and chanting throughout a military parade along Republic Street. Protesters lined the streets, from Parliament through to St George’s Square. The President was booed and fake money was thrown towards his car.

Ahead of the official ceremony, President Vella appealed for unity, describing the current events as "very particular circumstances," and that Malta was far bigger than the “gang of people” who have brought shame on the country.

In a statement, Moviment Graffitti said that "the two main political parties exerting huge control over [Maltese] society and institutions, and which prioritise their party’s lust for power over the interests of the people," asking all Maltese to take the opportunity to bring about a real change, and not a superficial one.

Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia insisted NGOs and protesters did not apply for a permit for the protests on Republic Day, while a Police statement admitted a meeting was held between the NGOs and police authorities two days before the protests to discuss civil society's role in the official ceremonies.