Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/801885
3 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 22 MARCH 2017 News for two and a half years for assisting' in man's rape ranging for medical assistance. Further analysis of the photos led the police to Elasrag. The phone number of the dropped handset corresponded with a Facebook ac- count belonging to the Egyptian. The victim had also given a match- ing description of his attackers, said the policeman. Asked by Elasrag's lawyer, the witness had replied that the ini- tial phone call to police was made by a foreign watchman who had been working at a nearby film set. The police officer had confirmed that the Filipino victim was fully dressed when he arrived on the scene and had only reported the theft. This account was corroborated by a female Police Sergeant who also testified that the victim had told her that two Arab men had threatened him with a knife and or- dered him to hand over his bag. His description of the clothes worn by the accused matched the clothes in which they had been arrested, she added. The victim did not mention being beaten, she said. But although both men had de- nied the charges during their ar- raignment, Elmosaty entered an unconditional guilty plea to the rape-related charges at a later stage. Magistrate Aaron Bugeja sentenced the man to imprisonment for two years and six months. Police Inspectors Saviour Balda- cchino and Jeffrey Scicluna pros- ecuted. The sexual assault took place in 2015 in Gnien il-Mall in Floriana Fenech Adami refuses to name programmes 'sponsored by db Group' PAUL COCKS THE Nationalist Party has refused to name Media.link's programmes which have been "sponsored" by db Group, citing commercially- sensitive information. While insisting that at no point did the PN's commercial arm breach any laws, PN deputy leader Beppe Fench Adami also refused to justify invoicing db Group sub- sidiary Sky Gourmet Malta - a company which exclusively pro- vides catering services to airlines and does not provide any services to the general public – for €70,800. The Labour Party has accused the Nationalist Party of breaching party financial legislation by issu- ing invoices through its commer- cial arm for donations made to the party. The PN has retorted that the invoices covered programme sponsorship – but pressed by Mal- taToday, Fenech Adami said he could not name the programmes. "This is commercially-sensitive information that no company would ever agree to disclose," he replied. Fenech Adami called the press conference after tabling an anony- mous letter accusing parliamen- tary secretary Justyne Caruana and Magistrate Grezzju Mercieca of being the two senior officials who intervened in a drug traffick- ing case in Gozo in Parliament on Monday. The case is currently subject to an independent inquiry and Caru- ana has denied the allegations. Fenech Adami himself said he does not believe that Caruana was one of the officials: "She definitely doesn't have access to the Gozo Ministry late at night." Fenech Adami however argued that the case "highlights the gov- ernment's ties to organised crime". "We are currently facing a situa- tion where, instead of the minister choosing to take responsibility for his actions, a mudslinging cam- paign is launched against individ- uals in the same political party," Fenech Adami said, shying away from identifying any specific min- ister by name. The PN's deputy leader insisted that it was not dangerous for poli- ticians to take up allegations in- cluded in an anonymous letter. He argued that the past four years were characterised by politi- cal interference in many national institutions, like the Malta Police Force and the Armed Forces of Malta. "The police force in particular has become a victim of political interference to the detriment of the general public," he said. "It is obvious that the prime min- ister does not want to establish the truth in this case, as he appointed a former Labour Party candidate two investigate two Labour gov- ernment ministers." Fenech Adami said that, to date, the prime minister had also failed to publish the inquiry's terms of reference and to establish a fixed term for the inquiry. "We are not discussing petty crime here. We are talking about drug trafficking and the con- sequences of stepping on drug traffickers' toes. [The letter] is a cowardly attempt to raise a smokescreen around the real is- sues. "The prime minister has the au- thority to establish which if his ministers had access to the Gozo ministry building on that day in October 2013. He has the duty to establish which of ministers were there and he should not hide be- hind the inquiry." The Gozo drug case highlights government's ties to organised crime, Beppe Fenech Adami said yesterday