Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1066826
NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 DECEMBER 2018 MATTHEW VELLA A court of law turned down a series of allegations filed by the estranged spouse of Op- position leader Adrian Delia in a bid to prevent him from seeing their five children over the Christmas season. MaltaToday understands the court gave short shrift to the allegations of Delia's turbulent matrimonial life in which Nickie Vella de Fre- meaux alleged acts of domes- tic and verbal violence. The court instead allowed Delia a minimum of three days a week to see his children, which included Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The details emerged in a leaked excerpt of her judi- cial writ, which has done the rounds among members of Delia's parliamentary group on WhatsApp, along with a recording of an alleged argu- ment in which Delia can be heard raising his voice. One PN insider close to Delia told MaltaToday the sharing of the private details was "a breach of loyalty" and refused to comment on the private feud. The Opposition leader himself released no comment on the allegations. In what is marked as para- graph four of the entire judi- cial writ, Vella de Fremeaux alleges that Delia had been violent and abusive towards several of his children, who had also "witnessed their fa- ther beating their mother." In one case, he was said to have "thrown [name] to the floor, kicked and smacked" the child; another child was said to have been abusively called "fat" and "good for nothing", another allegedly "forced to eat dog food one time", and another child "belted once". It is by far the most egre- gious set of allegations to have emerged against De- lia, and MaltaToday under- stands the excerpt from Vel- la de Fremeaux's judicial writ has been doing the rounds since late on Christmas eve – after the allegations were refused by the court to give Delia the right to see his chil- dren. Delia filed the urgent court application on Christmas eve to see his children, but Vella de Fremeaux – a family law- yer – said she would only al- low limited access under su- pervision by her parents. It is unclear whether she had ever filed criminal complaints al- leging domestic violence in the past, after listing these allegations in her court writ to counter Delia's request. The news follows notice from Vella de Fremeaux that she will not seek any further efforts for reconcili- ation with her husband af- ter deeming the marriage to have "broken down irretriev- ably", and instead proceed to a legal separation. Earlier in the week, Delia appeared on Xarabank's spe- cial Christmas edition show alone, hinting at the troubled patch his marriage had been through. The couple have been mar- ried for 17 years. THE Bishops of Malta and Gozo have released a state- ment calling on the Maltese government to take action and succour the migrants rescued at sea by the vessel Sea-Watch 3, a migrant res- cue NGO. In their statment, the bish- ops said it was futile recall- ing the birth of Christ while simultaneously abandoning human beings to death at sea, and urged for an immediate concrete solution. Sea-Watch, the German NGO, recently slammed 'Christian' Malta, as well as Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands for refusing to aid a stranded rescue ves- sel, which is carrying 32 mi- grants. The ship has remained stranded at sea for six days, awaiting clearance in "yet an- other political limbo" as EU states refused to let the boat dock. The Archdiocese of Malta likewise lambasted Europe's inertia on the issue. "It is a source of great concern for us that instead of helping, Europe refuses to offer shel- ter." The bishops recognised the efforts of the Maltese author- ities to help a mother and an infant child aboard the mi- grant vessel by transporting them to Malta via the Armed Forces helicopter. While also conceding that such a situation was both complex and sensitive, ur- gent action was required since such a situation placed these migrants between life and death. "What use is it for Chris- tians to recall the birth of a child if they do not seek to save these our human broth- ers and sisters? What use is it for society to promote life while choosing to abandon human beings to face death at sea?" the bishops said in the statement. In a reference to L-Istrina, the fundraising charity event which raised a record sum of over €7 million on Boxing Day, the bishops conclud- ed by saying that solidarity should not just express itself in monetary donations, but also through concrete ac- tions. Bishops urge action on migrant rescue PN leader's Christmas marred by acrimonious separation court battle