WEBVTT

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Today is the 11th of November 2019.

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I am Joseph Mifsud speaking,
this is my voice.

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I would like, first of all, to say

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that I have absolutely no contact
with friends and family

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and have had no contact
with friends and family

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for a number of months now .

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It's been almost two years to date that
the whole issue -- blown-up issue --

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has been presented to the world media
and on the world stage,

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as if I had something to do
with issues concerning countries

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or trying to infiltrate absolutely absurd
programs, contacts

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or any other institutions of the world.

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I have been a networker all my life
and this is what I'm good at.

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I try to bring one group
in contact with another.

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Not -- not, I repeat and underline --
nobody in any service, secret service

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intelligence service
or anybody of this sort.

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If I had any contact with these, 
I have not known that

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this person or that person
had any link with any institution.

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So this is extremely important.

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I have and I categorically refute 
-- as I did --

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in tho only two interventions that I made,
one, on the Italian La Repubblica

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and the other one when I was called
on the initial day,

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I think it was the first day
when all this broke out,

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by the Daily Telegraph in London.

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I have had nothing to do, I tried to do
nothing else, except as I've always done,

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put A in contact with B,
B in contact with C,

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for purely, for purely I would call
academic purposes, OK?

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The idea is to have networks.

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I've always been involved in think tanks.

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These think tanks were meant to bring
one group to speak to the other

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about a topical issue:
that is all.

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It was not my intent, never was my intent,

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to try to obtain any information to pass
from one side to the other.

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I have never done so, 
because I was never, never

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in possession of any information
which could be useful to one or the other.

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All I knew were people,
people who came from think tanks.

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And then, some of the institutions
that I represented in the past.

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I can assure you, both in the UK,
in Italy and elsewhere,

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I always tried to make sure that
young people have the opportunity

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of interacting with each other:
that is all.

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So, I've been reliably informed recently
that Link Campus has been accused

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of setting issues or being involved
with services.

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I categorically refute and refuse
to accept any of this.

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There has never been anything of the sort.

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I have friends and acquaintances,
obviously, from the university

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but it is important to say that these
were representing their own interests.

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So it was not me trying
to put them in touch with somebody else.

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They never asked and I never, absolutely
never, never, tried to do that.

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Whenever I met somebody -- and this 
has been proven over and over again --

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I tried to keep that person 
or that institution in mind,

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if there was going to be a project
or an event

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in which that institution can actually
play a part.

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That is what I try to be.

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I've always considered myself as also
according to my Catholic creed,

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to be a bridge builder,
building between one and the other:

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that is all that I wish to do.

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Obviously, I have my own mind
about certain things.

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So, if somebody asks me
how things are going to be,

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what do I think will happen,
I obviously have an opinion,

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like every other human being
in this world.

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So it is very very clear, and I repeat,
that there was no -- how would I call it?

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pressure; there was only advice
by my friends,

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whom I consider to be my friends,
and they will always be my friends

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because they've shown me
the hands of friendship

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to actually, during the whole
explosion of news all over the world,

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2 years to date,

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to actually keep a low profile
and spend some time

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thinking and reflecting about what
the events were actually saying.

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And that is what I have done.

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I have kept out of the limelight,
I have tried to keep myself busy

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mentally, because this has been
an extremely difficult period for myself.

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I had no contact, as I mentioned before,
with my family,

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which is something which obviously
somebody at my age

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-- I'm going to be 60 in April -- needs
to have contact with my ailing parents,

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with my -- and the rest of my family.

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And this has been
extremely difficult for me.

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I have been living a very lonely life
with no social interaction,

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something to which I have had
no previous experience of.

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So, to repeat: there has not been anybody
who has, in any way or form pressurized me

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except giving me advice on my well-being,
#1, because when it happened 2 years ago,

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I did not know where to turn,
I was completely alone.

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I had no advice outside that of my friends
in which I was told it was better for me

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to keep a low profile and to leave
what I was doing for a period of time.

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And that's what I did.

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Unfortunately, this period of time has now
been protracted for 2 years,

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which is more than one can take.

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I'm evidently at the end of my tether,
I cannot take this anymore.

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I have not worked,
not done any mental work,

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at times I have kept away
from all the news,

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I do not actually even read the news,

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because I have tried to keep away
from everything.

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I have never, never: I repeat never -- in fact 
this is perhaps one of the issues --

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I have never been paid by anybody

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to commit any intrusion 
into the privacy of another

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I have never been that 
and I am NOT a radical

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in the term in the terms of trying
to put somebody in touch

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with somebody else
without his or her permission-

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I have always asked is there a wish is 
the request by A to be in contact with B

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and I always ask A and B
if they wish to do so,

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that is all.
It was of interest to me

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to see that some of this networking
actually had some fruit

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so in a text which I am preparing

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and I am preparing a full text
of all my thinking

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and of all the issues that I feel
have actually taken place.

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Not fake news but, 
real news and real events.

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I again categorically emphasize
with all my might and with all my mind

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that, for example Link Campus has had
no interest and has not put me to task

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to try to get information or intelligence
about any institution in the world.

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There was never never that request.

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The request was to try to find
other institutions

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which wish to network with the university
in terms of its expertise,

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student experience
and of course something else,

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creating new knowledge and research.

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That was my underlying role and
to that role I have tried to fulfill this.

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until the very end. There was
never never any request which goes

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beyond these bounded boundaries.

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It is also important to note that if
somebody has an opinion about something

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he should not be - if I may use the word,
crucified, for his thinking.

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If for example I think that
this issue will happen

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or that election will take place
with this outcome,

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it is with the adding up of
A B C and D.

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These might not be facts but this might be
realizations advice

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from friends and others.
This has been always my rule-

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I am really at the very end now. I cannot
take this anymore unfortunately,

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I apologize for all those that I've hurt or
that I have caused any harm in any way

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although this has been done
in a very very very very indirect way

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because I have never tried
to do any harm to anybody.

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This has been my whole issue.

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So with this I am again underlying:
I have tried to keep away

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from any issue which might hinder
or cause difficulty to any institution.

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This has been the role... my role
for these last two years

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Before those two, yeah those two years

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I tried and I agree and I confirmed
that I tried to network.

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network means trying to get one think tank
to speak to another think-tank,

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one group of thinking
with another group of thinking

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I have always done this all my life
since I was a child

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so the idea is that
where I was I try to bring harmony

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I try to bring one group with another.

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So sometimes I succeeded, many times 
I have failed, but I have tried.

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this comes and stems also
from my upbringing.

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so may underline again coming also
-- this is something which is also important --

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be coming from an area
which has always tried to bring peace

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and always try to bring
one group with another.

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This has been always my road.

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I have not not been given any instructions
by anybody,

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I have not been forced to do something
by anybody

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I have not been paid to do anything
by any group

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or with one group against another group:

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that was not my intent
and I have never done that

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I have of course have my own opinions

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and I have always shown my opinions
very very clearly.

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so it is extremely I have always been
super diplomatic in terms of what I do

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and they always keep contact
I have always kept contact

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because for these last two years
I have had no contact

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with anybody important or particular

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is that I've always tried
to keep contact with people,

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trying to bridge with them,
trying to see how I can help

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it was like an experience for me trying
to see that I knew people

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I they heard my voice they, held my advice
I heard their advice

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and then I made myself .

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I showed for example to my students

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what are the different thinking
in front of them

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it is up to the individuals to do
that one last thing.

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It is extremely important too.