Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1012451
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 8 AUGUST 2018 2 NEWS YANNICK PACE TWO men who were allegedly involved in an armed robbery 18-years-ago have initiated proceedings before the con- stitutional court in which they claim a breach of their rights. James Vella, 38, and Christopher Scerri, 40, were arraigned in 2014, over their alleged involvement in the killing of bank employee Alphonse Ferriggi back in 2000. Ferriggi was shot dead early in the morning on 18 September 2000 as he was delivering internal mail to the Bank of Valletta branch in San Gwann. His assailants made off with his bag. Two men, Richard Grech and Jo- seph Zammit, were both found guilty for their involvement in the murder. Grech was sentenced to life impris- onment, following a trial by jury in 2011. Zammit was handed a 30-year jail term in 2009. The two men had allegedly told the police about the involvement of Vella and Scerri, leading to their arraign- ment in 2014. In their application, signed by lawyers Franco Debono, Amadeus Cachia and Marion Camilleri, the two men say that the Attorney General's office had called all witnesses that were to testify in the case, with the exception of Grech, who is awaiting the outcome of an appeal and there- fore cannot testify. Despite refusing to testify, the two men said that 18 out of 34 postpone- ments during proceedings were due to the fact that the AG's office was insisting on Grech's testimony. "Richard Grech was never asked to testify and to explain under oath that he is truly awaiting the outcome of criminal proceedings which are at the appeal stage, and the applicants are relying solely on declarations made by the prosecution, when the person in question is meant to testify in court under oath that he can't in- criminate himself because of pending procedures." The applicants said that as a result, they had spent the last two years turning up for court hearings for no reason. The two men said that the situation was similar to that encountered dur- ing criminal proceedings against an associate of former European Com- missioner John Dalli, over an alleged €60 million bribery case. In that particular case, the Court had said that the law courts hearing the compilation of evidence against Zammit could not delay the process any longer over the inability to sum- mon a witness to testify in the pro- ceedings. The applicants called on the courts to declare that the delay in the pro- ceedings has resulted in a breach of their right to a fair hearing as out- lined in Article 6 of the European Convention and Article 39 of the Maltese Constitution. Furthermore, they requested that the court grant an "effective remedy and provide appropriate means of safeguarding the rights" of the ac- cused. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 personally con- tacted by Archbishop Scicluna, and a meeting at their own personal resi- dence was held yesterday. This was confirmed by the archbish- op in a video released by the Archdio- cese of Malta's official Facebook page. The Archbishop hailed the family's will to indoctrinate their child into the church's teachings. In the event that Ella does not accept the Eucharist once again, the Arch- bishop will still be certifying her com- munion. Ella's father, Jean Claude Agius, told MaltaToday that during the meet- ing, Scicluna had discussed issues the young girl faces due to her autism. "We discussed issues we face as a family and as individuals. We also ap- pealed to the Archbishop to increase awareness on issues similar to ours," Jean Claude said. Agius expressed his satisfaction with the way the Archbishop handled the situation, adding that the experience had been much easier than that with the parish priest. Men accused of armed robbery claim breach of human rights Family welcomes Archbishop's timely intervention CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Questions to the Finance Ministry on the Government Gazette listing remained unan- swered yesterday. The tender The original tender valued at €58 million was for the provi- sion of catering services and the construction of a new kitchen at St Vincent de Paul but bidders were also allowed the opportunity to propose an additional investment. It is understood that the win- ning consortium proposed the construction of an extension to St Vincent de Paul, which would also serve as a geriatric hospital. Part of the proposal also in- cluded a yearly cash payment to government for it to spend on improvements at St Vincent de Paul, sources told MaltaTo- day. The parliamentary secretari- at yesterday insisted the con- tract was awarded according to procurement rules and ap- proval from the Contracts De- partment was sought at every stage. Two offers were submit- ted and after the JCL & MHC Consortium was selected, the losing bidder lost two appeals against the decision. The Public Contracts Review Board in September 2016 con- firmed the original decision, which was again reconfirmed by the courts in a ruling hand- ed down in February last year. Improved offer The government said that the contract was eventually signed with JCL & MHC, however the consortium decided to "im- prove its offer" and instead of the annual sum to be paid over the 10-year duration, invest in the facility to double the num- ber of proposed beds to 500. The bidder also bound it- self to deliver the hospital in three years from the issuance of building permits, some- thing that does not appear to have been requested under the original tender. "This additional investment included the provision of an- cillary services, ward manage- ment, nurses, carers, cleaners, catering and laundry services, maintenance and security," the government said. It added that the new build- ings would become public property after the contract ex- pires. The parliamentary secretariat said the deal would bring about savings of around €17 million for the government over the duration of the contract. "The proposal made by JCL & MHC was forwarded to the Contracts Committee and was approved on the basis of tech- nical and financial reports. This is normal practice in public procurement rules every time that a negotiated procedure is used," the government said. St Vincent de Paul will re- main responsible for the clini- cal and medical services, while the private company will cater for the other services offered to elderly patients. PN reacts In a statement, the National- ist Party yesterday asked the government to explain why it chose to give the contract as a direct order, in light of the Government Gazette's 20 July listing. In view of the finance minis- ter's statement that he was un- aware of the direct order, the PN also asked why the minis- ter's approval was not sought. Excavation works on the grounds at St Vincent de Paul have started after the consorti- um was issued permits for the preparatory work by the Plan- ning Authority. The authority is also consid- ering a separate permit appli- cation for the actual construc- tion of the buildings. Original tender valued at €58m Caruana Galizia murder suspects denied bail yet again THE three men accused of kill- ing Daphne Caruana Galizia have been denied bail for the second time this month, after they submitted an application requesting it. George Degiorgio, ic-Ciniz; Al- fred Degiorgio, il-Fulu; and Vince Muscat il-Kohhu, were arrested on December 4 and accused of murdering Caruana Galizia using a car bomb. They have denied in- volvement in the murder. The decision was handed down by Justice Antonio Mizzi after an identical application was turned down by Judge Giovanni Grixti last week. Grixti observed that the three men could not be trusted to observe the conditions of their bail. Lawyer William Cuschieri, ap- pearing on behalf of the three men, argued that the court could not a priori decide that the three men would breach the conditions of their bail, adding that all three had been out on bail in the past and had abided by the conditions imposed on them. The court said that it "agreed perfectly with the reasoning" of its previous decree, pointing out that the inquiry into Caruana Galizia's murder was still ongoing, and that there was a real fear that the three men being released on bail could hinder the inquiry. William Chetcuti appeared for the three men. Nadia Attard and Philip Galea Farrugia represented the Attorney General's office.