Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1383989
5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 16 JUNE 2021 NEWS MATTHEW VELLA 56% of Maltese have told the Global Corruption Barometer survey they fear retaliation for reporting corruption. The figure is well above the EU average of 45%, and is eight highest in a list that is topped by mainly Mediterranean na- tions Cyprus, Croatia, Slove- nia, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Portugal. The GCB, released by Trans- parency International, reveals that almost two thirds of peo- ple in the EU think that gov- ernment corruption is a prob- lem in their country. The GCB surveyed more than 40,000 people about their views and experiences of corruption. The Maltese were in the main convinced that government corruption was a problem – this view was shared by 69% or just over two in every three persons, and above the 62% EU average. Yet 56% also claimed that their government was doing well in tackling corruption, perhaps a reflection of various criminal investigations taking place against former members and acolytes of the Muscat ad- ministration and other political resignations. However, one in two respond- ents (49%) believe the govern- ment is controlled by private interests, just a few points less than the EU average of 53%. Much less than the EU aver- age of 7%, only 4% of admitted to have paid a bribe to obtain a public service in the last year. Yet one in three – 33% - ad- mitted to have used personal connections to get a public ser- vice in the last 12 months. "Governments not doing enough," Transparency Inter- national said on the findings of the survey. "We also asked people how they rate their government's efforts at tackling corruption. People are divided on this issue, with half being unconvinced about leaders' efforts. 43% cent of people in the EU think that their governments are doing a good job at tackling corrup- tion. However, 49 per cent think that their governments are doing a poor job." Over 60 per cent of people in Denmark, Finland, Luxem- bourg and the Netherlands think their governments are doing well in the fight against corruption. More than half of people in Austria, Ireland, Mal- ta, Slovakia and Sweden agree. By contrast, 80 per cent of citizens in Cyprus think their government is not doing well in the fight against corruption. The survey reveals that healthcare, in particular, has been a corruption hotspot as governments struggled to man- age the COVID-19 pandemic. Although just six per cent of people paid a bribe for health care, 29% EU residents relied on personal connections to get medical care. Furthermore, most people don't think that their government has handled the pandemic in a transparent manner. "The EU is often seen as a bas- tion of integrity, but these find- ings show that countries across the region remain vulnerable to the insidious effects of corrup- tion," said Delia Ferreira Rubio, Chair of Transparency Interna- tional. "During a health crisis, using personal connections to access public services can be as damaging as paying bribes. Lives can be lost when con- nected people get a COVID-19 vaccine or medical treatment before those with more urgent needs. It's crucial that govern- ments across the EU redouble their efforts to ensure a fair and equitable recovery from the ongoing pandemic." Around half EU residents think politicians do not take their views into account when making decisions, and that companies cosy up to govern- ments to win profitable con- tracts and avoid paying taxes. More than half of people in 19 EU Member States hold this view. In Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic and Slovenia, two thirds of people or more think that businesses are con- trolling their governments. In contrast, fewer than 3 in every 10 people in Finland (28 per cent), Denmark (25 per cent) and Sweden (20 per cent) share this view. Fear of retaliation 56% of Maltese are scared of reporting corruption MATTHEW AGIUS DAPHNE Caruana Galizia murder sus- pect Yorgen Fenech's lawyers have re- quested the exhibition of the murdered journalist's laptops and hard drives, saying they contain important evidence that would prove his innocence by con- tradicting evidence by star prosecution witness Melvin Theuma. In the application filed before the court of Magistrates, the lawyers wrote that Theuma had claimed that Fenech had commissioned him to find someone to get rid of Caruana Galizia because she was about to publish a story about his uncle. "In view of this, the laptops and hard drives belonging to the victim are of great importance to the defence in order to prove his innocence as well as to contrast it with that testified by Melvin Theuma." Theuma, who testified at length in sev- eral proceedings related to the murder, has on occasion been criticised by the court for his convoluted and contradic- tory explanations. The application, which was signed by lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran, Mar- ion Camilleri and Charles Mercieca, ar- gued that the Police had the obligation to gather and preserve all the evidence related to the murder, both in favour and against the accused. "This must include two laptops and three hard drives used by the victim at the time of the murder." The devices had been transported to Germany for safekeeping in the after- math of the murder, and the German authorities had subsequently refused to hand them over to their Maltese coun- terparts. The Constitutional court, in its judg- ment in the case of Alfred Degiorgio vs The Commissioner of Police and the Attorney General from December 2019, had directed that this evidence must be requested during the compilation of ev- idence before the compiling magistrate, said the lawyers, asking the court to or- der this be done. Yorgen Fenech lawyers demand to see murdered journalist's laptops Yorgen Fenech