Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1290275
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 SEPTEMBER 2020 NEWS Cases 2699 Active 662 Recoveries 2017 Deaths 20 Swabs 229,252 LATEST COVID-19 www.maltatoday.com.mt/covid19 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 According to information gathered by MaltaToday, the US government is in- terested in getting the green light from Malta for a Status of Forces Agreement, as well as winning closer cooperation on intelligence to tackle the problem of arms and drug trafficking at Hurd's Bank, a se- curity challenge that is high on the Amer- ican agenda for Malta. Malta and the United States government are edging closer the SOFA deal, which is key towards enhanced interception of the smuggling routes around Hurd's Bank, an offshore bank to Malta's east that is used to bypass US sanctions on illegal tran- shipments. Various ministers are concerned that Malta's problems on money laundering prosecutions, which are needed to pass the all-important Moneyval test that starts in October, could force it to con- ceded on a red line on the SOFA: the issue of jurisdiction on US personnel based in Malta. The Americans are said to be insisting on "concurrent jurisdiction", that is a sys- tem where both American and Maltese courts have jurisdiction. But the Maltese are jittery about the demand, a situation that would lead to both parties quibbling over having any prospective criminal case heard in the court they perceive will be most favourable to them. The US has actively encouraged Mal- tese requests for United Nations Security Council sanctions against fuel smugglers which also used the national oil storage tanks to store smuggled Libyan fuel; but while sanctions enforcing Libyan embar- go rules would grant the US a route to easily board ships it suspects of carrying smuggled oil and weapons, a SOFA would mean having American naval muscle in its backyard to deal with such situations. Apart from winning greater US moni- toring on Hurd's Bank, the Americans are demanding that the Chinese embassy in Pembroke is, literally, cut down to size. The Chinese embassy wants to rebuild its headquarters here on a 19,000 square metre plot in Pembroke. The Chinese government had purchased the land from the Maltese government for €7.8 million in 2015 after the decision was approved by both sides of parliament. The Chinese had first approached the Nationalist ad- ministration about the desired land back in 2007, requesting a 10,000sq.m are of land. Since then, the size has almost dou- bled. Another request in which the US em- bassy is leaning on the Maltese govern- ment is to achieve a favourable resolution to the Steward Hospitals impasse. Steward Healthcare founder and boss Ralph de la Torre have already locked horns with Prime Minister Robert Abela and health minister and deputy PM Chris Fearne over the future of the hospitals' project and an agreement signed with former minister Konrad Mizzi. Steward had a memorandum of under- standing that was expected to be followed up by a new contract in 2019, but was never formally signed because of the po- litical crisis that saw Muscat resign. De la Torre was accompanied by a rep- resentative of the United States embassy in talks with Abela and Fearne last July. The American healthcare company, which stepped in to buy the mysterious Vitals Global Healthcare in December 2017, is insisting on a new contract that gives them more money to run the three state hospitals – up to €120 million annu- ally – and wider berth on default clauses. They had already won concessions from Muscat to ensure Steward gets extra fi- nance to continue operations while in Malta. The Maltese are already exposed to a new kind of risk on the Steward hospi- tals' concession: information received by a magistrate carrying out an inquiry in- to the controversial public-private part- nership, revealed an "escape clause" that would turn any termination of the Stew- ard concession into a government default. The agreement was signed by Mizzi and Steward so that should the hospitals' con- cession be terminated by a court of law – for whatever reason, and even if Steward is in breach of contract – such an event would be a government default. That would mean that all debts incurred by Steward would be passed on to the gov- ernment, with the American company still be liable for a €100 million contrac- tual pay-out for its equity. One minister who spoke to MaltaToday referred to the influence of the US embas- sy as being "impossible to ignore". "The Caruana Galizia assassination is intimately connected to shortcomings on rule of law, which is itself tied to our Moneyval performance on money laun- dering. The fact that someone like Yor- gen Fenech is charged with the murder, throws light on the Electrogas power plant as well." One minister who spoke to MaltaToday referred to the influence of the US embassy as being "impossible to ignore". Sanctions enforcing Libyan embargo rules would grant the US a route to easily board ships it suspects of carrying smuggled oil and weapons, but a SOFA would mean having American naval muscle in its backyard to deal with such situations Guard charged with attempted murder gets bail, rioting migrants remanded in custody 27 migrants have been remanded in custody and a security guard released on bail after shooting an escaping migrant following riots that took place at the Safi deten- tion centre on Friday. Security guard Darren Bonello, 30 from St. Paul's Bay was charged with the attempted murder of Ab- dulrahman Abdullah Hamza and slightly injuring the man, whom he shot with a licenced shotgun. Bonello was further accused of breaching conditions of his arms licence and carrying the weapon in public without permission. The court was told that Bonello had fired a warning shot and then hit Hamza with his second shot as he tried to scale the fence leading to the airport runway. Bonello pleaded not guilty to the charge and requested bail. His lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia argued that Bonello was simply defending him- self from an assault by the migrant, who had injured him at that stage. He was also doing his job as he tried to stop the escape. Despite the prosecution's objec- tions, the court granted Bonello bail against a €3,000 deposit and a €10,000 personal guarantee. He was also ordered to sign a bail book three times a week and to observe a curfew. 27 migrants charged with escaping detention In separate proceedings, 27 mi- grants have been remanded in cus- tody following riots that took place at the Safi detention centre on Fri- day. It was a busy day of arraignments in Magistrate Claire Stafrace's courtroom as the 27 migrants were charged with participating in the riot, which saw a number of mi- grants escape and seven police of- ficers injured, two of them serious- ly. The escaped migrants were later recaptured. First to be arraigned this morn- ing was a group of seven migrants accused of gathering in a group of over 10 people with the intention of causing damage, of disobeying orders from the authorities, of set- ting fire to a mattress, and of es- caping the detention centre. Two of the accused in this group: Ali Abdul Razak, 23, from Sudan and Abrihema Giymay Mengisteab, 22 from Eritrea, were charged with in- juring four policemen, two of them seriously. The other accused are Abdul- rahman Abdulla Hamja, 20-years- old from Somalia, Giddu Mahiok, 20-years-old from Sudan, Abrham Hinstab, 37-years-old from Eri- trea, and two minors; a 17-year-old from Cameroon and a 15-year-old from Eritrea. The second group of five men to be arraigned were accused of incit- ing a riot but not charged with es- caping. All five are from Sudan. Another three groups of men from Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia were also charged. All 27 pleaded not guilty. Bail was denied, with the court ordering that the migrants be held at Cor- radino Correctional Facility and not the Safi detention centre to avoid further rioting. The minors amongst them were recommended to be held at the YOURS youth de- tention facility by the court. Lawyer Martin Fenech represent- ed the migrants as legal aid counsel. Inspector Janetta Grixti prosecut- ed all the arraignments.