Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1054415
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 21 NOVEMBER 2018 4 NEWS MATTHEW AGIUS LAWYERS in the case against the or- ganisers of the ill-fated 2015 Paqpaqli Ghall-Istrina supercar exhibition have questioned why the Porsche instruc- tors who designed the track were excluded from prosecution, despite them having said that they were aware that the barriers would not protect bystanders in the case of a crash. During yesterday's sitting Martin Bajada, a court expert, testified on how he extracted data from the Por- sche. He explained that following an extraction process from the vehicle's ECU, files containing codes were re- trieved. The codes indicated various func- tions and errors which were regis- tered in the ECU of the vehicle. He ex- plained that with the proper manual or information, the codes could then be cross-checked and interpreted. This data was made available to the Inquiring magistrate and court ex- perts in the course of the magisterial inquiry. Superintendent Josric Mifsud gave evidence on the police investigation. He testified that soon after the accident he went on site. He gave immediate in- struction to move the metal barriers to control the public and move the gen- eral public away from the site of the accident. Later on he coordinated the movement of the Porsche. The vehicle was loaded on a police truck and was finally moved to Muscat Motors and kept under police watch. The vehicle was cordoned off and a police officer placed as a fixed point with the vehicle. Dr Stefano Filletti, in cross-exami- nation, questioned what discussions took place between the investigating officers before deciding whom to pros- ecute. "Why were Dineef and Bang- ma, two Porsche instructors, who de- signed the safety track excluded from prosecution?" asked Dr Filletti. Supt. Mifsud answered that the magisterial inquiry did not indicate them. Dr Filletti quoted Dineef confirming not only that the track was designed by them but that they were aware that in case of a vehicle losing control the barriers would not have protected people from impact. "Is this not negli- gence?" Dr Filletti asked. Supt Mifsud answered that they were drivers, prompting a heated reply from Dr Fil- letti that this therefore would "not on- ly be negligence but incompetence". In further cross-examination by Dr Giannella De Marco, Supt Mifsud confirmed that the Porsche was parked in Muscat Motors garage. Other vehicles were also parked there but the Porsche was cordoned off. A police watch was placed to ensure that the vehicle would not be touched or tampered with. Superintendent Josric Mifsud and Inspectors Silvio Magro and Hubert Cini are prosecuting. Bailey is being represented by lawyer Giannella de Marco while lawyer Joe Giglio is Tonio Darmanin's legal counsel. The other members of the organising committee are being represented by lawyer Ste- fano Filletti in the court proceedings. Appearing for the various members of the organising committee are law- yers Joe Giglio, Stefano Filletti, Arthur Azzopardi, Michael Sciriha, Raphael Fenech Adami and Albert Zerafa. Franco Debono, Amadeus Cachia, Roberto Montalto, Michael Grech, Shazoo Ghaznavi, Alessia Zammit Mackeon and Reuben Farrugia are among the lawyers appearing parte civile for the victims. Track designers exempted from prosecution Paqpaqli disaster 1,963 foreigners found working without a permit this year A total of 1,963 foreign workers have been found working in Malta without a permit so far this year, Employment Minister Evarist Bartolo said yesterday. Replying to a parliamentary question from Nationalist MP Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, Bar- tolo said that between January and Septem- ber, inspections carried out by Jobsplus led to the discovery of 842 EU nationals and 1,121 third country nationals that were employed without being in possession of the necessary permission to do so. The minister, replying to another question, said that between January and September this year, local authorities had received a total of 27,636 permit applications, including 21,425 'Single Permit' applications that are forward- ed by Identity Malta. Bartolo said there were currently 2,545 pending permit applications.