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MaltaToday 25 May 2022 MIDWEEK

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NEWS 5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 25 MAY 2022 Fenech failure to pay court deposit leads to automatic dismissal of appeal Yorgen Fenech had appealed a court sentence that rejected his request for judicial review of Cabinet's refusal to grant him a presidential pardon but failed to pay the required fee MATTHEW AGIUS YORGEN Fenech's appeal against a judgment, which had dismissed his request for judicial review of Cabinet's refusal to grant him a presidential pardon, has been struck off after he failed to pay the required court fees. Fenech's lawyers had filed an application to obtain a judicial review of the Cabinet's decision without, however, preceding the action with a judicial letter or protest, which is an essential prerequisite when filing an ac - tion against the government or a public authority. The lawyers argued that this prerequisite was waived in cases which required an urgent hear - ing. The court, presided by Mr Justice Francesco Depasquale, did not uphold the claim and dismissed the case. An appeal was subsequent - ly filed, but when the case was called on 24 April, the Court of Appeal (superior jurisdiction) composed of Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti, Mr Justice Joseph R. Micallef and Mr Justice Tonio Mallia, noted that the appellant had been notified of the date of the sitting, as well as the require - ment of having paid the required deposit in the court registry al- most a month earlier, but had not paid the deposit, as required by law. The appeal was therefore de - clared abandoned, in spite of the presence of Fenech's lawyer, Charles Mercieca. Opposition wants greater police presence in Gozo KURT SANSONE GOZO requires a greater police presence, the Opposition said, especially in multicultural local- ities like Marsalforn and Xlendi, and new entertainment hubs like Mġarr. Nationalist Party spokesper- sons for Gozo and home affairs respectively, Alex Borg and Joe Giglio, called for better securi- ty to deal with changing demo- graphic and cultural trends. "Lack of security in Gozo is a serious matter every day… the lack of police officers in Gozo has long been felt," they said. The spokespersons partly blamed the lack of security on the growing multicultural pop- ulation, especially in seaside localities like Marsaslforn and Xlendi. "The lack of security in Gozo is also coming from the fact the Gozo's population has changed but the way we look at securi- ty has not, or is changing very slowly," they said. The reference to multicultur- alism as a security issue comes a couple of weeks after two ri- val groups of Syrian nationals came to blows in Marsalforn, leading to the murder of one of the men. A co-national has been charged in court. However, the PN MPs expect- ed the situation to get worse in summer when Gozo's popula- tion more than doubles. They also called for police presence in the port of Mġarr where the number of enter- tainment establishments had increased over the past few years, attracting many people to the area, especially during weekends. Borg and Giglio disagreed with what they said are new ar- rangements to keep the Comi- no police station open only be- tween 9am and 8:30pm. Opposition MPs raise spectre of multicultural security challenge in Gozo, call on government to increase police presence

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