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4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 MAY 2020 NEWS MATTHEW AGIUS A court turned down an appli- cation filed by Daphne Caruana Galizia murder suspect Yorgen Fenech, in which he asked it to order that his compilation of evi- dence continue. The application, filed on Fri- day 8 April, was decreed by the Criminal Court on the same day, before the Attorney General was notified or could reply. In his application, Fenech's law- yers argue that the COVID-19 situation in court has effectively rendered his detention indefinite – essentially echoing the com- plaints he made in an application to the First Hall of the Civil Court in its Constitutional jurisdiction, which he also filed on 8 April. In that case, filed against the State Advocate and, by necessi- ty, the Superintendent of Public Health, he had challenged the va- lidity of the subsidiary legislation by which the courts were closed. The case before the Criminal Court is more straightforward, with Fenech demanding that the stalled case against him contin- ue. The murder suspect asked the court to send the acts of the case back to the Court of Magis- trates so that the compilation of evidence against him could re- sume as he was being held with- out trial. But in his decision, also handed down on 8 April, Mr Justice Aar- on Bugeja noted that criminal proceedings were, by their na- ture, both public and regulated by strict procedural laws, which included the presence of the par- ties in a "building and physical space defined at law". Mr Justice Bugeja noted that the COVID-19 public health emer- gency created another consider- ation for the court to weigh. In order to be held, a compilation of evidence required the presence of a large number of people in a courtroom – parties, lawyers, ushers, messengers, the depu- ty registrar and the judge, aside from the expected additional Judge rejects request compilation CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The 48-year-old man had descended from the roof after the police asked him to do so. Later that evening the man was reported as being aggressive towards a doctor from the Paola Health Centre who had gone to the man's home at the request of his fam- ily. The man had proceeded to lock himself in a room on the roof and refused to come out. Police claimed the man was likely to have been armed. After several hours, the police succeeded in convincing the man to leave the room, but he again became aggressive towards the doctor, before running upstairs and trying to jump out of a window. Officers from the police Rapid Interven- tion Unit used a stun gun on the man to stop him from jumping out of the win- dow. The doctor then administered an injec- tion intended to sedate the man. He lost consciousness and was given medical as- sistance by a waiting ambulance crew. At around 11pm, he was taken to hospi- tal by ambulance, escorted by the police. Shortly after, the police were informed that the man had died. It is understood that the man, who was known to the po- lice, had a substance abuse problem and was under the effect of drugs at the time of his death. An autopsy will be carried out to establish the cause of death. Magistrate Yana Micallef Stafrace is conducting an inquiry into the incident and has appointed several experts to as- sist her. The police are also investigating the death. The Ministry for Home Affairs National Security and Law Enforcement declined to comment about the news at this stage, pointing to the fact that the incident was subject to a magisterial inquiry. Inquiry into death of man first hit by stun gun, then administered sedative CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Then the French counterpart crossed over from the PSC room, with a series of questions directly from Paris. "We want to know the political level at which this decision was taken," the French colleague enquired. "And what the reasoning behind the decision is…" The French stated clearly they were worried Malta would pull out its contribution to personnel, a boarding team that should have been tasked to take on smugglers and other ships carrying weapons into Libya. "They want a letter from the Maltese govern- ment," said one Brussels insider, "so that it is sent to all member states and Josep Borrell, the High Representative, explaining this position." Even Borrell, the EU's foreign minister, had some words to say to foreign minister Evarist Bartolo over the weekend. "I am disap- pointed," he said, apparently finding Malta's hardball move unex- pected. Malta's Prime Minister Robert Abela told aides he will not budge on his hardline position, determined to make Brussels sit and up and take notice. Not only is Malta rattling the EU. It has been busy courting the Turkish government – a controversial move – because it is the GNA's main ally and supplier of armaments. Malta has complained to the European Commission that it is failing to hammer out a common solution for the rescue and relo- cation of migrants at sea. The government claims it cannot take in asylum seekers due to the coronavirus pandemic. But even Italy, with one of the largest death tolls in Europe and its ports shut, has still taken in migrants rescued at sea to Lampedusa and Sicily. Malta instead has chartered private ves- sels. The government is accused, and is un- der investigation, of having pushed back one group of migrants to Libya; it has now chartered two boats from the Captain Morgan pleasure cruise company to hold migrants outside its territorial waters, at Hurd's Bank, denying them the right to claim international protection in Malta. The government is also refusing to reveal the daily cost of chartering the two boats – reportedly at well over €10,000 a day – and says it will finance the cost through EU funds. To curry favour with the Turks, Malta took the unprecedent- ed decision of withdrawing from Operation Irini. The newly launched EUNAVFOR MED Irini disproportionately affects the GNA, whose weapons are mostly supplied by Turkey by sea, be- cause it has little impact on the GNA's rival, military commander Khalifa Haftar, whose Libyan National Army receives supplies by air and land across the Libya-Egypt border, as well as from the United Arab Emirates. These are harder to track, and impossible for Irini to intercept. The operation's commander is assigned to Italy and Greece every six months alternatively. Initially, the operation will have three vessels contributed by France, Greece and Italy, one Maltese boarding team and three directly assigned patrol aircrafts Germa- ny, Luxembourg and Poland, and the same number of vessels and aircraft in associated support. Turkey only recently began backing the GNA with military as- sistance in exchange for a controversial mar- itime agreement that divides up much of the Eastern Mediterranean between Turkey and Libya. And this has angered Greece, which is logistically running Operation Irini, because it cuts into its Exclusive Economic Zone around Crete. But Irini could strengthen Haftar's relative position, because it fails to put any pressure on Egypt or the UAE to restrain him at a time when the coronavirus pandemic spreads through Libya. EU High Representative Josep Borrell French, German leaders seek answers on Malta's withdrawal from Operation Irini