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maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 8 MAY 2019 3 NEWS MATTHEW AGIUS THE man accused of the brutal mur- der of Shannon Mak was placid and calm as police arrested him, offering no resistance and asking no questions as police placed him in handcuffs, a court was told yesterday. Magistrate Simone Grech, who is presiding the compilation of evidence against Jelle Rijpma, heard how the police had found the suspect lying on a sofa, "half-asleep" as they entered the small converted garage in which he lived, metres away from where Mak's body was found. Rijpma is charged with the murder of Mak, 30, whose throat was allegedly cut by her 23-year-old ex-boyfriend Rijpma on August 3 2018. Emergency physician Jonathan Joslin took the stand to described the grue- some scene he found in Triq il-Mas- trudaxxi as he reacted to the emer- gency callout. The body of the young woman was in the street in a pool of blood, slumped against a wall. On the wall, an arc of her bloodied handprints could be seen, he said. Dr Joslin and his colleague Dr Mi- chael Spiteri had checked the casualty and found no breathing and no pulse. An extensive neck wound which ex- posed the trachea had caused a fatal haemorrhage, they said. She was pronounced dead and the case was handed over to forensic ex- perts. Two of the four arresting officers who had detained Rijpma later that day, told the court that they had been let into the man's flatlet by his land- lady. He showed no emotion as they hand- cuffed him, they said. The case will continue in June. Inspectors Kurt Zahra and Robert Vella are prosecuting. Lawyer Leon- tine Calleja is defence counsel, while lawyer Stefano Filletti is appearing parte civile. Shannon Mak murderer 'showed no emotion on arrest', Court told Jelle Rijpma CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Mizzi said that the project was possible after an applica- tion to extend the Freeport inland was withdrawn. He said the project will be split into three phases: the afforestation itself, the crea- tion of a camping site, and the converting of an underground bunker in the area into a tour- ist attraction. "The previous administra- tion had earmarked this land for an extension of the Free- port terminals, effectively turning it into a container port," MIzzi said, "But this government decided that the Freeport should be extended outwards, in the direction of the sea, not inwards, where people live." Herrera, calling the project one of the most massive in recent years, said the manage- ment of the 8,000 endemic trees which will be planted will be entrusted to a yet un- named NGO. Regarding the extension of the Freeport, he acknowl- edged that its expansion was necessary to enhance its con- tribution to the economy, but he insisted that any expansion should be outwards, includ- ing possibly through the use of land reclamation. The Freeport itself, he not- ed, was mostly built on re- claimed land. "33% of Malta is built up, but 67% isn't," Herrera remarked, as he spoke of the challenges his ministry encountered when searching for locations where afforested areas could be created. "A lot of this unbuilt land is either privately owned, or features garigue habitats which cannot be touched," he said, underlining how the land in Benghajsa, however, was suitable for afforestation, which was one of the reasons the government had decided to dedicate the space for this purpose. mcosta@mediatoday.com.mt Benghajsa afforestation project will include tourist attraction in war bunker

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