Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1335955
4 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 3 FEBRUARY 2021 NEWS KARL AZZOPARDI THE disability commission has turned down an invitation for an event hosted by pro-life groups, saying the party does little to promote disability rights. The Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disabil- ity (CRPD) said it was invited to participate in an event titled Time to Shine Malta, which is being organized by Tim Tebow Foundation, LifeNetwork Foun- dation Malta and the St Julian's Parish, together with a number of commercial entities, as well as the Maltese Association of the Order of Malta. The event is a "window dress- ing exercise" according to the commission, with no active par- ticipation of disabled people's organizations. "The Commission is of the opinion that this event is a win- dow-dressing exercise in making fellow citizens feel 'special for a night' when our collective effort should be aimed at making them feel included in society for a life- time," it said. In both invitation and promo- tional material, persons with dis- ability are referred to as "persons with special needs". "Nowhere does the invitation and promotional material indi- cate that the event will promote disability rights," the commis- sion said. The CRPD said that as the in- dependent mechanism trusted by law it "cannot possibly sup- port this event." The Tim Tebow Foundation is a Christian charity fronted by athlete Tim Tebow, whose signature Night to Shine is a worldwide prom for people with special needs. The organisation funds surgeries to children of the Philippines through the Tebow CURE Hospital. Tebow is a professional foot- ball and baseball player who is a staunch pro-life activist. He joined the annual March for Life in January 2021, an annual American pro-life demonstra- tion held each January on the National Mall since the passage of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Su- preme Court decision that guar- antees a woman's right to an abortion. The Tim Tebow Foundation also funds anti-human traffick- ing initiatives – Tebow person- ally supported the erection of the 'Trump' wall on the US-Mexico border. In 2020, he appeared with Ivanka Trump and the American Attorney General Bill Barr to announce over $100 mil- lion in federal government funds to target human trafficking. Disability Commission turns down pro- lifers' invite to disabled people's prom Pro-life activist and professional American athlete Tim Tebow Commission says party does little to promote disability rights Court delays 'unacceptable': Compilation of evidence process to be overhauled NICOLE MEILAK THE Justice Ministry is looking into a serious revision as to how the compila- tions of evidence is carried out, to try and reduce the amount of time taken at this stage of the court hearing, justice minis- ter Edward Zammit Lewis yesterday. He was speaking in Parliament follow- ing media backlash over the past week with regards to court delays, after Mal- tese EU Commissioner Helena Dalli's son's drug sentence prompted sever- al calls on social media to fix lengthy court processes. He was caught hand- ing over six ecstasy pills to another man outside a party venue in 2013. Zammit Lewis acknowledged that court delays are of considerable con- cern within Malta's judicial system, but insisted that his ministry has worked hard to resolve some of these issues. "Justice reform doesn't happen over social media, and social media doesn't solve problems that have been endemic for years," the minister said. He insisted that a lot had improved since the Labour came to government in 2013. As an example, he referred to the case of Morgan Onuorah, who had been interrogated in 2010 over alleged in- volvement in a drug deal. But since he had given a statement to police without having a lawyer present, his statement could not be used as evidence. Zammit Lewis said that this issue goes back years. In a similar case, a teen- ager had been interrogated by police in 2012, once again without having a lawyer present, as the right to legal rep- resentation during questioning had not yet been introduced in Malta. "Criminals have been able to walk away from justice freely... there are re- percussions when a statement isn't tak- en in accordance to the law," Zammit Lewis said. "This reflects how the Na- tionalist Party had managed their jus- tice ministry before 2013." There is case law from the Strasbourg Court and European Court of Justice, he said, on how a statement should be taken, and how a person needs legal representatives. Zammit Lewis said it is was also unac- ceptable for an inquiry to take five years to be concluded, but once again insisted that there is no room for knee-jerk reac- tions when trying to solve this issue. "We need to listen to everyone's ad- vice and make sure we're doing things well and with caution," he said. "And I believe that we have already done a lot, with reforms in the appointment and removal of judges, and in the way the Chief Justice is appointed." Edward Zammit Lewis