Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1205478
4 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 29 JANUARY 2020 NEWS LAURA CALLEJA THE Maltese pro-choice coalition Voice For Choice has lambasted a decision by President George Vella to address an an- ti-abortion manifestation in February. The NGO said Vella's decision to ad- dress the 'Manifestation in Favour of Life' was "an astounding insult to all those who care about civil rights and equality in our country." Vella, a former Labour deputy prime minister and foreign minister, has been committed against abortion well before his appointment as President, and was categorical that he would never sign an abortion law in force as President. The event, which will take place on 2 February, is being organised by the Malta Unborn Child Platform and will include a mass by Auxiliary Bishop Joe Galea Curmi, followed by a march from the entrance to Valletta to the Co-Ca- thedral. "In doing so he [Vella] is sharing a po- dium with individuals and organisations who have strongly opposed, and still ac- tively oppose, a whole plethora of hard- earned civil rights including the right to divorce, the right to reproductive assis- tance in the form of IVF, access to con- traception, and LGBT rights including equal marriage and adoption rights," the NGO said. This isn't the first time Vella has sup- ported anti-abortion events. Back in October he supported a screening of the anti-abortion movie 'Unplanned', a film disputed by multiple pro-choice NGOs, including Doctors for Choice who claimed the movie was riddled with medical untruths. "'Unplanned' is riddled with medical untruths, such as giving the impression that a 13-week old foetus can feel pain, which is contrary to the position of rep- utable international medical organisa- tions," the NGO said. Pro-choice group slams President's decision to address anti-abortion rally MATTHEW AGIUS A thief who admitted to stealing €20,000 worth of jewellery in a 12-day crime spree, had been jailed for 44 months. Avtandil Rusia, 37, from Georgia, had been charged over a string of burglaries from private residences in Rabat, Zebbug, Sliema, Swieqi, San Gwann and Qormi, between October 17 and 29 last year. Investigators had found Rusia in posses- sion of over €20,000 worth of jewellery, cash, ex-pensive spirits, perfumes and other items, all of which matched those reported stolen dur-ing the break-ins. Magistrate Joe Mifsud delivering judg- ment upon the accused, noted that pun- ishment was meant to have a retributive purpose as well as help reduce crime, protect the public at large and reform the person being punished, who must also compensate the victims. Having seen the man's free admission, the Court declared Rusia guilty and sen- tenced him to 44 months in prison. Inspectors Mario Xiberras, Shawn Pawney and Leeroy Balzan Engerer pros- ecuted. Lawyer Noel Bianco was defence coun- sel. 44 months' jail for 12-day theft spree George Vella has said he would never sign an abortion law into force as President MATTHEW AGIUS A Santa Venera family whose home was requisitioned in the 1960s and abusively transformed into a Labour Party clubhouse has asked the courts to order the property be returned to them, af- ter a decades-long legal battle, ar- guing that they are being forced to subsidise a political party against their will. The Grech family home in Santa Venera was requisitioned by the Nationalist government in 1967 – only to be taken over as a Labour Party for a clubhouse six years lat- er when Labour came to power. After it was allocated to the PL, the Rent Regulation Board had unilaterally fixed the rent at the derisory sum of €382 annually. In a constitutional application to the First Hall of the Civil Court, filed by lawyer Claire Bonello on 14 January, the plaintiffs argue that the defendants: the Attorney Gen- eral, Director of Social Accommo- dation and the Labour Party, had ignored a 2009 judgment which awarded the Grechs €75,000 in compensation (reduced on ap- peal to €60,000) with legal interest from the date of judgment. "Therefore it is established by the courts that the taking of the property was ultra vires and through an abuse of the powers given to the defendant Director of Social Accommodation," reads the application. Although legal amendments had come into force to lessen the dis- crimination and injustices that the rent laws were causing to prop- erty owners, these did not affect this case as the property taken over was for a party club and not a residential dwelling. The lease would likely also continue to be inherited. The Grechs had no reasonable hope of repossessing the prop- erty during their lifetime. This amounted to a breach of the right to the enjoyment of personal property, argued their lawyer. But in addition to this, it was argued that "they were also be- ing forced to subsidise a political party against their will," effectively contributing a lot more than any membership fee ever could. This breached their right to freedom of association as protected by the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, ar- gued the plaintiffs. For these reasons, the family asked the court to declare all the effects of the requisition order as null and without effect, also extending the nullity to the land- lord-tenant relationship which re- sulted from it. They also demanded a remedy, including adequate compensa- tion, bearing in mind the long time they had been deprived of the property and the lack of any real hope of ever having it returned to them in their lifetimes. Family wants return of Labour club: 'We're forced to subsidise a political party'