Anti-mafia foundation opens first overseas branch in Malta
Former Repubblika president Robert Aquilina will be the local representative for Fondazione Falcone, an anti-mafia organisation
Anti-mafia group Fondazione Falcone inaugurated its first overseas branch in Malta on Sunday evening in an event attended by the sister of renowned, assassinated Italian judge Giovanni Falcone.
The event, held in Siġġiewi, was attended by the foundation’s president, Professor Maria Falcone, sister of the renowned Italian judge Giovanni Falcone, who was assassinated in 1992.
Robert Aquilina, former president of the Maltese civil society group Repubblika, was appointed as the foundation’s local representative.
In his address, Aquilina drew parallels between the 1992 murders of anti-mafia magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in Italy, and the 2017 assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta.
Both events, he said, underscored the threat posed by organised crime to justice and civic freedom.
Caruana Galizia’s murder, he added, sparked a profound sense of civic responsibility among many Maltese, inspiring the creation of the foundation's first branch outside Italy.
“With this branch, we want to achieve in Malta what the foundation has already done in Italy. We want to bring about a positive cultural change, fostering a culture rooted in the rule of law and justice,” Aquilina said.
He said he wants to collaborate with the Maltese government, while commending the Italian state’s ongoing support for the foundation’s anti-mafia efforts.
The presence of Malta’s President, Myriam Spiteri Debono, at the inauguration was, he remarked, a promising sign for this partnership.
President Spiteri Debono’s speech echoed the urgency of combating organised crime and corruption. Citing Caruana Galizia's haunting last words online — "The situation is desperate; there are crooks everywhere" — she called for decisive action.
“To me, her cry says: ‘Come on, do something about it; Sbrigati, fate qualcosa!’” she said. She mentioned the sacrifices made by individuals like Falcone, Borsellino, and Caruana Galizia, who “paid the ultimate price” for exposing crime and corruption.
The President went on to list other European journalists who had been killed for their work. “No country — not even Western democracies or EU member states — is immune to this plague,” she said, warning of the way it infiltrates politics, media, and governance, undermining public trust.
Spiteri Debono urged Maltese citizens to heed the “clarion call” sounded by Caruana Galizia’s assassination, saying that the tools of democracy must be actively implemented if they are to bring about real change.
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