Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1346072
5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 3 MARCH 2021 MATTHEW AGIUS VINCENT Muscat, il-Kohhu, must testi- fy in the next sitting of the compilation of evidence against the Degiorgio brothers, who are accused of detonating the bomb which killed Daphne Caruana Galizia, a court has ruled. Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit gave her ruling from chambers yesterday af- ternoon, a few hours after hearing argu- ments from both prosecution and defence on whether or not this was permissible in view of the fact that her court, as the com- piling court, had already sent the acts of the case back to the Criminal Court. Stafrace Zammit noted that the court had been faced with a decree of the Crim- inal Court ordering the registrar to send the case back to her to hear Vincent Mus- cat testify. "For this reason, in view of this fact, this court has little power to decide on objec- tions arising from the decree other than to carry it out in its entirety," she said. The same could not be said of the Criminal Court when the Bill of Indict- ment is transmitted to it, she said. It was clear that although the Criminal Court has to pass the acts of the compilation of evidence to the presiding magistrate, it doesn't send the acts of the Bill of In- dictment, aside from the application in which the request is made. "This shows that the Criminal Court continues to have jurisdiction to hear and decide requests made by the parties inde- pendently of whether the acts of the com- pilation of evidence are in its possession or in that of the compiling court." The court of Magistrates therefore re- fused the defence's request and ordered that in the next sitting, to be held next week, Vincent Muscat is to testify. George Degiorgio 55, from St Paul's Bay, known as Ic-Ciniz, Alfred Degiorgio, 53, are charged with murder and a number of charges relating to explosives. Today's sitting was mostly procedural with a court-appointed expert saying that voice recording files that could not be ac- cessed by the defence were re-formatted to be accessible. The court appointed a transcriber to hear the recordings and once these are done, the defence will cross-examine par- doned middleman Melvin Theuma. The prosecution informed the court that it will produce convicted murderer Vince Muscat as a witness in the case. Muscat pleaded guilty to the charges last week and was handed down a 15-year jail term. He also gave up his right to appeal the sentence. Magistrate rules that Vince Muscat must testify against the Degiorgio brothers in the next sitting Daphne Caruana Galizia murder JAMES DEBONO DEVELOPERS have reiterated plans for three, 14-storey towers in Xgħajra with photomontages documenting a massiv visual im- pact on the seaside locality's sky- line, at present still characterised by low-rise buildings. Some of the visuals presented by Jason Mifsud's Elegant Homes take into consideration the neigh- bouring Smart City development, with its massing as originally ap- proved back in 2009. Smart City's new buildings are yet to be ap- proved despite being approved in an outline permit. The visual study of the three towers shows they will dominate part of the Xgħajra promenade nearest to Smart City, but not from the Tal-Grazzja battery and the more distant part of the Daw- ret ix-Xatt promenade. The visuals compare the pro- posed towers with conventional five-storey development, on the assumption that the Planning Au- thority could permit the develop- ment of the entire site rather than a high-rise with more open spaces. The low-rise 'alterative' is de- picted as a uniform wall cutting across the whole site, with no con- sideration given to possible design or other such conditions imposed by the PA. The floor-area ratio rules allow medium-rise buildings, of up to 10 storeys, on plots of over 4,000sq.m when surrounded by streets on each side. Over 10-storey high-ris- es are only permitted in Marsa, Gzira, Paceville, Qawra, Tigné and Mrieħel. But the approval of medium-rise developments is not automatic since the policy excludes devel- opments on compact, low-rise lo- cations where such buildings are considered "naturally alien". The policy says "tall buildings should respond positively to their context including natural topog- raphy, scale, height, urban grain, streetscape and built form, and the skyline" and should "retain and enhance key strategic, long distance views and important vis- tas at a national and at the local level." Earlier in February, the devel- opers asked for a suspension of their application; but new plans and visuals presented last week do not show any substantial changes. The latest plans were submitted after the local council controver- sially issued its go-ahead for the project. In his letter to the PA, the Xgħajra mayor welcomed changes to the original plans which now include "a spacious piazza" accessible from Dawret ix-Xatt. The council said it prefers the application of the floor-area ratio through which building heights are compensated by the creation of a public piazza, than building the entire area with five-storey buildings as allowed in the local plan. It said the project would result in the upgrade of the small seaside locality "into a high- class residential destination com- plementing the surroundings and Smart City." NEWS Three towers will dominate Xghajra after council's green light