Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1178032
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 OCTOBER 2019 NEWS Malta, shrunk down No 6. The Daphne vigil What are we skinning? The commemorative vigil in honour of slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was murdered by car bomb on October 16, 2017. Why are we skinning it? It's an event loaded with political, cultural, social and emotional resonance that simply cannot be ignored, not least because of the international speakers addressing the enormous crowd in Valletta. So you're gonna make fun of it? Not at all. The murder of a journalist, however complex, controversial and misunderstood her legacy may be, is no laughing matter. But there'' a lot that can be explored between the interstices of the narratives forming around all of that, and last Thursday's vigil was another example of just how true that is. How do you mean? Well, for starters we had former MEP Ana Gomez come up to speak, and one of her rallying cries was, "I am a socialist, and I'm proud to be a socialist!" – a puzzling bit of political positioning given Caruana Galizia's own discomfort, if not outright disdain, of socialist principles... But surely an act as shocking as Daphne's murder should force us to step aside from comparatively petty – even 'academic' – political semantics, and just focus on healing and prevention? Yes, but with a figure as strongly etched into the Maltese psyche as Caruana Galizia was, it is difficult for politics not to worm its way through. An international perspective always helps though, right? Getting the Mayor of Palermo and a Sicilian anti-mafia priest to speak should focus our mind on the issues at hand, surely? In theory, yes, and their impassioned speeches were adequately rousing calls for social justice. But these performances also point towards the danger of generalising Daphne's legacy far too much. Generalising? To put it plainly, their speeches could have been copy/ pasted commemorations to any fallen figure who died in circumstances that suggest institutional corruption may have had a hand in the assassination. As ever, international attention on the Daphne case appears to hinge on a lack of specificity, which has the unfortunate – even if it may be unwitting – side-effect of intellectual dishonesty. Do say: "The murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia was both a viscerally horrific and nationally traumatising tragedy, and we should all give ourselves the space to process it with goodwill and a calm mind, while remaining vigilant over the powers-to-be, ensuring that such a thing never happens again in an EU member state that claims to hold freedom of speech as sacred." Don't say: "Daphne is a martyr and deserves unquestioning and unreconstructed adulation/ Daphne was a Labour-bashing propagandist and a gossip blogger with classist tendencies so her legacy is hopelessly tarnished. Nuance and complexity is banned from the discussion on pain of social ostracism." The Skinny MATTHEW AGIUS A Greek businessman has taken betting giant Tipico to court for allegedly forging clauses in a contract with a franchise partner. Antonios Stampolidis, rep- resenting the BVI-registered Chadborn Holdings, which owns 10 Tipico shops in Aus- tria as a franchise partner, has asked the police to inves- tigate the alleged forgery. In the civil courts, he had sued Tipico Co Ltd and its German former director Oli- ver Voigt for damages in the region of €14 million. In his sworn court applica- tion, Stampolidis alleged that Tipico had terminated the agreement without a valid reason at law, causing dam- ages and a loss of profits amounting to millions, and he asked the court to declare that the franchise agreement had been terminated "illegal- ly and abusively." In an affidavit, Stampolidis explained that at the end of 2012 there was a "huge con- flict" between him and Ti- pico based on a franchise agreement that was being negotiated. He had gone to Frankfurt to meet Tipico's marketing director in Ger- many, Stefan Meurer, and eventually reached an agree- ment. "I went back and was quite satisfied," he said. Through Meurer, Tipico granted Stampolidis the right to open two new shops in Austria and had sent him a new contract to sign, he said. "But when the agreement was eventually received by me, I was very surprised because there was nothing to be found of what we had agreed," reads the affidavit. So Stampolidis had sent an email, delet- ing the paragraphs which he disagreed with, later also fax- ing and posting the signed amended draft to Malta for Tipico's signature. But Tipico then sent back the original contract, he said, this time with his signature and signed by Oliver Voigt, on behalf of Tipico. "The pages where I had deleted the sentences were exchanged. A complete line was actu- ally added in one of the para- graphs," he said. All the pages that were exchanged showed the Tipico logo in dark black, but in the pages that were kept the logo is very faint, said Stampolidis. In the affidavit, Stampolidis claims that they had asked him to sign and fax the con- tract to them in order to cov- er the "really obvious" colour difference in the logos used in the original and forged contracts. "They did not like that I sent them a contract with deleted sentences. So, with their logic, they kept my sig- nature and in all the parts where I deleted because I did not agree they changed them in order for the contract to suit them and only them," Stampolidis alleged. The company's legal depart- ment was trying to cover up the forgery by attempting to force him to sign various new contracts, he claimed. Another former Tipico di- rector, Hans Wolfram Kes- sler, had directly threatened to stop the acceptance of bets in Stampolidis's shops and that he would be forced to close them, he says. "That is a clear attempt at covering up the forgery," alleged Stampo- lidis. In September 2013, Kes- sler had forwarded another new contract to Stampolidis, mentioning that because there were amended clauses in the faxed contract, it was not being acknowledged by Tipico. In their reply to one of the civil lawsuits filed by Chad- born, Tipico had pointed out that both Kessler's and Voigt's roles as directors had ceased three years prior to the case being filed. "These things do not subsequently come to the knowledge of the parties. They are there to see and consult online and physi- cally at the registry of compa- nies." Tipico said the way the con- tractual relationship between the parties had come to an end was "completely differ- ent to that reported by the sworn application and it is absolutely not true that the defendant company breached contractual dispositions in some way." It also rebutted Chadborn's allegations of unjustified en- richment, saying they were unfounded at law and in fact. It was not true that Tipico was enjoying benefits as a result of the work done by Chadborn Holdings Limited, said the defendant, adding that "if anything, damages were caused to it by its asso- ciation with Chadborn." It denied being the subject of any investigation by law enforcement or regulatory authorities and objected to the production of police wit- nesses. "Firstly, the plaintiff fails to indicate the nature of the alleged investigation or who carried out the so-called 'investigation'. Secondly, the defendant company is absolutely not aware of any alleged investigation in its regard and has never in the past been subject to any for any wrongdoing by any en- forcement or regulatory au- thority." It opposed a request for additional witnesses to be allowed to the plaintiff, re- minding it that its claim is based on an alleged wrong- ful termination of an agency contract and accused it of "literally trying to throw the book, hoping something will stick." Lawyer Rachel Tua is ap- pearing for Stampolidis and Chadborn. Lawyers George Antoine Cremona, Simon Schembri and Rachel Geno- vese are defending Tipico. The case continues. Greek businessman in Maltese courts claims betting company Tipico forged clauses in franchising contract Betting giant sued for €14 million damages Tipico has rebutted Chadborn's allegations of unjustified enrichment, saying they were unfounded at law and in fact