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18 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella MANAGING EDITOR Saviour Balzan Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 JANUARY 2019 21 January 2009 Malta slammed over arrest, interrogation procedure A UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention this week expressed outright condemnation of Malta's arrest procedure – in which suspects are routinely denied access to legal representation while under interrogation – as well as the con- ditions of closed centres where irregular immi- grants are detained. The United Nations delegation was in Malta last week to assess the government's detention policy, with regard to both irregular migration and the criminal justice system. In a press con- ference on Friday, Rapporteur Manuela Carme- na Castrillo said that according to the group's preliminary findings, Malta's detention policy for migrants is "not in line with international human rights law", and highlighted numerous shortcomings which required urgent attention. These include the detention of vulnerable persons such as small children, as well as the general conditions in the closed centres, which are substantially worse than those in prison. Echoing concerns raised repeatedly by Malta- Today, the UN working group also harshly criti- cised the Malta Police's arrest and interrogation procedure, expressing concern "that persons arrested on suspicion of having committed a criminal offence do not enjoy the right to access to lawyers for up to 48 hours while they are in police custody, during the crucial initial stage of the criminal investigation." Vice-chairman Malick Sow called on the Maltese government to address this issue with urgency. "The absence of a lawyer during this crucial period is a significant blemish on the system," he said. Elsewhere, the UN delegation commented that the portfolio of the Justice Ministry cov- ered too many areas under a single umbrella, with Castrillo adding that the situation was not conducive to transparency within the justice system. Similar points have separately been raised by European Court of Human Rights Judge Dr Giovanni Bonello, who said in an interview with this newspaper: "Access to a lawyer while in detention is generally considered the very mini- mum of detainees' rights... Malta is probably the only European country where this right has not been properly translated into law." Bonello also questioned the wisdom of hav- ing a single minister in charge both of the police and the law courts; as well as an independent prosecution which doubles up as advisor to government on legal matters. In a prompt rebuttal to the UN delegation's report, the Ministry for Justice and Home Af- fairs yesterday defended its policy of detain- ing irregular immigrants, arguing that the UN working group had "failed to appreciate the scale of the problem." MaltaToday 10 years ago Quote of the Week A privatisation scandal Editorial ''If he really thinks that, then he must see whether his position within the PN is tenable.'' PN Leader Adrian Delia over a cryptic Facebook post by MP Jason Azzopardi on accusations that Delia 'plays for the other side' THE share purchase agreement between Stew- ard and Vitals – through which the company was granted a concession to run three of Mal- ta's public hospitals – has lifted the lid on the deleterious effects of non-transparent privatisa- tion of state resources. According to the details revealed by a local online news site, the hidden owners of Vitals Global Healthcare reportedly funded the takeover of a medical equipment company that now has exclusivity with new hospital owners Steward Healthcare. According to the share purchase agree- ment, two of the owners of Vitals – Ram Tumuluri and Shaukat Ali Abdul Ghafoor – funded the takeover of medical equipment company Technoline when it was acquired by its former sales and marketing manager, Ivan Vassallo, using a €5 million loan from one of VGH's owners. They, and other uni- dentified investors, used companies in Jersey to hide their loan to Vassallo's private com- pany. Technoline was then granted exclusivity to supply medical equipment to the three hos- pitals formerly run by VGH, at a time when Tumuluri was taking decisions on how tax- payers' money was being spent by Vitals to run three Maltese state hospitals. According to the share purchase agree- ment for the sale of VGH to Steward Health- care, Tumuluri and Shaukat Ali used off- shore companies in Jersey to grant a €5.14 million loan so that Vassallo could buy out his boss and purchase Technoline in Decem- ber 2016. Only three months after Vassallo took control of Technoline, VGH entrusted this company with the procurement of all of its medical supplies in a done deal that was agreed to just 19 days after the takeover. The details suggest that VGH's directors and owners were in fact awarding the Tech- noline deal to themselves by making it an exclusive supplier to Vitals (three companies – Evergreen Global Ventures, New Horizons Investments, and Mount Everest Invest- ments – are the owners of Vitals Global Healthcare Jersey, which in turn owns Vitals Procurement Jersey. The owners of the origi- nal Jersey companies include Tumuluri and Shaukat Ali). The concession is now under investigation by the Auditor General. Once again, this is an indictment on Konrad Mizzi, who – both as minister for energy and health, as well as responsible for the government's privatisa- tion arm – was chiefly the architect of this privatisation contract. The same deal has also exposed appar- ent divisions within the Labour Cabinet. In comments to the press on Tuesday morning, Health Minister Chris Fearne said both he and Steward Healthcare did not agree with this set-up. Opposition leader Adrian Delia lost no time in branding Fearne's comments as "a condemnation of fellow Cabinet min- ister Konard Mizzi, who had negotiated the concession agreement covering the three hospitals." Admittedly, Delia himself may not be in the best position to comment about internal divisions within a political party at the mo- ment. On its own, however, this fact does nothing to invalidate his argument. There may even be legal grounds to suspend the agreement: the Nationalist Party leader has in fact initiated court proceedings, asking the court to annul the deal signed between the government and Vitals Global Healthcare. Naturally, one cannot predict the outcome of this case; but apart from the law-courts, there is also the court of public opinion. Government must surely realise that there is a limit to the people's patience, when it comes to disposing of national assets so carelessly. More worryingly for government, Delia also voices widespread popular misgivings when he describes the deal as having been 'set up to fail'. The new details only give new beef to an existing conspiracy theory, that assumes that Vitals never intended to deliver the goods at all… but were instead given a concession that was so profitable that it would be easy for them to find someone else to take up the responsibilities of the con- tract. For 'ceding' their concession, Vitals would make a handsome profit – something that was planned beforehand and not the result of circumstances. Surely enough, the ultimate beneficiaries did make a profit and disap- peared from the scene – while having made little worthwhile contribution with the €55 million spent from taxpayers' cash. Government clearly has a lot to answer for in this regard. While commercial sensitiv- ity is a fact of life in such complex arrange- ments, it also remains a fact that unneces- sary secrecy erodes trust. There was nothing commercially sensitive in informing people about the 99-year lease, or the buy-back op- tion after 30 years. And for Mizzi and Joseph Muscat to now speak about them in such a casual, matter-of-fact way, has been noth- ing more than an insult to everyone's intel- ligence. This attitude simply legitimises all the doubts that have been expressed by many over the concession deal. It was already questionable to have an international com- pany with no healthcare background being roped in for this flagship project, let alone to spring further unwelcome surprises along the way. Rather than adopt a nonchalant, matter- of-fact attitude, Mizzi and Muscat would have done a better job in publishing the con- tract in its entirety, and giving Parliament an adequate explanation on all aspects of a deal that was ultimately negotiated on behalf of the Maltese taxpayer.