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NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 10 APRIL 2019 2 MATTHEW AGIUS THE captain of a ship hijacked by rescued migrants kept re- peating that he was not in con- trol, under pressure and "un- der piracy", the court heard on Tuesday morning. The merchant ship, El Hiblu, had picked up more than 100 migrants off the Libyan coast but was forced by the rescued people to change course to- wards Malta when they re- alised they were going to be taken back to Libya. Three youths were charged with piracy after the ship was allowed to disembark in Malta. The young men from Guinea and the Ivory Coast pleaded not guilty to the charges, which carry a prison sentence of be- tween seven and 30 years. They also stand charged with illegal arrest of the crew, changing the course of the ves- sel and causing the crew to fear violence being used against them, amongst others. Inspector Omar Zammit took the witness stand, telling the magistrate that the men were part of a group of migrants res- cued at sea. When the ship was instructed to change course and return the migrants to Lib- ya, some five individuals had seized control of the vessel. "We prefer death than having to return to Libya," one of the hijackers is reported to have told the captain. The inspector confirmed that no physical violence took place during the hijack but said that the threat of it was clear. One English-speaking mi- grant told the captain that they would hurt themselves or damage the ship with tools they had seized. Around 20 to 25 persons then started bang- ing tools on the ship. Under cross-examination, the police inspector was asked by lawyer Malcolm Mifsud, who is appearing for the ac- cused, whether he knew what was happening in Libya. "From the news, yes," replied the inspector. The police officer confirmed that no firearms were found on board the ship by the Armed Forces of Malta personnel who boarded the vessel and wrested back control. A soldier who participated in the search of the vessel said that they had not found any weapons on the vessel, but there were tools and other items scattered around the ship which could have been used as arms improper. The owner of the El Hi- blu also took the stand today. Salah Ali Mohammed El Hiblu told the court that his place of residence is Tripoli. The court cautioned the witness that some questions could incrimi- nate him and explained that in that case he was free not to answer them. The witness de- clared that he wished to testify. He had been informed by the Italian coastguard that they wished to make contact with the vessel. He gave the Italian authori- ties the contact details of the ship after being told that it was required to save lives. It res- cued some 100 people from a rubber boat in distress. The rescued people wanted to go to Italy or Malta, but the cap- tain, as per instruction set course to the nearest Libyan port. When they realised they were near Tripoli, the migrants forced the captain to go to Italy or Malta, "but he didn't have enough fuel to go to Italy so he went to Malta." A high-ranking officer from AFM testified that it was noti- fied of a "red ship on a north- ern course" in Libyan waters by EUNAVFOR MED. During routine questioning the ship informed the authorities that it had migrants on board and was going to head north. The AFM assigned its King Air aircraft to oversee and as- sist in the operation. The air- craft made contact with the captain of the El Hiblu and asked him what his intentions were and was told that he was on course for Valletta and that he could not switch off the en- gines, repeating this twice. "My vessel under attack, my vessel under piracy. I can't talk anymore… My vessel under pi- racy now," he then said. The ship was in Libyan SAR at the time, the army officer said. The court heard how the cap- tain kept repeating over and over again that he was "under piracy". The AFM aircraft could also hear Tripoli port calling the vessel but the ship's captain de- clared that he was not hearing their communications. "Situation is very bad, very bad on board. My vessel under piracy. Am going to Malta pro- ceeding to Valletta now," the ship captain repeared. Before it had to return to base, the AFM aircraft asked the vessel's master if he was in command of the vessel and the reply was: "Not in command, not in command, under pres- sure." The army aircraft warned the ship that it did not have permission to enter Maltese territorial waters. When this declaration was made, the ves- sel was about to exit the Libyan SAR area into Malta's SAR, some 80 to 90 nautical miles from Malta. The army officer testified: "The Libyan coastguard later informed us that the vessel had suddenly changed course and was informed that some peo- ple had taken command of the vessel - probably against the will of the master of the vessel." The case is being heard in front of Magistrate Aaron Bugeja. Lawyers Neil Falzon, Gian- luca Cappitta and Malcolm Mifsud entered not guilty pleas for the accused. The court has prohibited the publication of the names of the accused and the AFM wit- nesses. Ship captain repeatedly told army officers his vessel was 'under piracy' Migrants disembarking in Malta from the El Hiblu after an army special unit boarded the ship and wrested back control CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 "We have engaged with the fam- ily's lawyers and we have engaged openly regarding this," Grech said. He acknowledged that further inquiry into the case "may be ap- propriate", but said that this did not necessarily mean that the two inquiries needed to be held in par- allel. In fact, he said that past judg- ments by the European Court of Human Rights allowed for there to be a sequence of investigations and did not necessitate that they are all held in parallel. "It is appropriate that action be properly targeted and that there be a proper and effective use of resources," he said, adding that it was also relevant to ask whether a parallel public inquiry could prejudice ongoing criminal pro- ceedings aimed at identifying those who had commissioned the murder. The magistrate's inquiry, he said, was a broad one that could take him wherever the evidence point- ed to. Grech also noted that the crimi- nal code gives him the power to ask a question to an inquiring magistrate when necessary, some- thing he had offered to the family, however, he said the family did not engage in this regard. Murder investigations still ongoing The Attorney General also gave an overview of some aspects of the Maltese justice system, particu- larly magisterial inquiries, includ- ing the obligation to preserve evi- dence and to look into the cause of death, as well as the power to order arrests, the seizure of objects and the appointment of experts. He said that committal proceed- ings against the men accused of murdering Caruana Galizia were ongoing and that all witnesses were being heard in order to en- sure the strongest possible case against the three men. Grech stressed that the three ar- rests made so far were not the end of investigations. Pieter Omtzigt, who is prepar- ing a report for PACE on Caruana Galizia's murder and the rule of law in Malta, asked Grech wheth- er he had made requests for infor- mation to foreign jurisdictions, including the United Arab Emir- ates where the company 17 Black was incorporated, and Germany, whose police force is in possession of Caruana Galizia's laptop. Venice Commission analysis did not go into specific cases Martin Kuijer from the Venice Commission explained that a re- view of Malta's constitutional set up had been requested by both the government of Malta and PACE. Both requests, he said, were very broad and as such the commission had chosen to concentrate on the most relevant topics. He repeated observations in the report that the Prime Minister held too much power and that re- forms were required in a number of areas, including the manner in which members of the judiciary are appointed and parliamentar- ians' part-time status. Minister still disagrees with Caruana Galizia's writing style Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi asked the minister how credible he could be when speaking about corruption given that his ministry had engaged Nexia BT Brian Ton- na on various jobs. Azzopardi also asked how the minister could say that the Venice Commission had pointed mainly to legacy issues, when there were clear references to top govern- ment officials. Bonnici was also asked about comments he had made in the past where he described Carua- na Galizia as a hate blogger and whether he still felt the same way. The minister insisted that he still disagreed with Caruana Galizia's style of writing. "Maybe he should ask his own party leader who had called her a 'bicca blogger'," Bon- nici replied. As regards Brian Tonna, Bon- nici said he had not worked for the ministry in this legislature. He also noted that there had been two investigations which had so far been concluded and which had found no wrongdoing. "I hope Mr Azzopardi will respect the out- come of the court decisions once the outcomes are concluded." Minister says he still disagrees with Caruana Galizia's style of writing Justice minister Owen Bonnici

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