Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1469338
4 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 1 JUNE 2022 4 NEWS Topo refusal to name accomplices result of 'inaction on witness protection' Daren Debono was jailed for six months and fined €4,600 for refusing to honour the conditions of a plea deal he had reached with the Attorney General CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 IN January 2022, Vince Mus- cat had been due to be tried by a jury over the 2010 unsuccess- ful attempt to hold up the HS- BC headquarters, along with Debono, but on the eve of the trial, the news broke that a plea bargain had been reached be- tween the Attorney General and one of the accused men. Under the terms of the last-minute plea deal, Debono received a 10 and a half year sen- tence, together with an €18,000 fine and was ordered to pay half of the costs of the case, which amounted to over €11,000, in re- turn for his testimony against his accomplices. But when, after receiving the agreed sentence, Debono was required to testify against Vince Muscat in the latter's trial, he would only confirm Muscat's involvement and was steadfast in his refusal to name his other two accomplices from the wit- ness stand. The dismal result of that plea deal led to calls for the sacking of Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg by NGO Repubblika, which accused her of betraying her office by letting a criminal who had tried to kill two police officers off the hook. The organ- isation alleged that the episode was an attempt to cover-up the involvement of Carmelo Abela and Chris Cardona, both former government ministers, in the crime. Buttigieg remains in the role. 'Is there any doubt he is at high risk?' In his submissions on Tues- day, defence lawyer Edward Gatt asked the judge to "de- tach himself from the nefarious voices outside the court." The heat accompanying this case might have been too much for the court which sentenced his client, he suggested, before giv- ing an overview of how the case had ended up before Mr. Justice Bugeja. "Daren Debono had started to testify against Vincent Muscat. Divulging things from first hand experience that nobody had ever heard. He testified that Muscat had entered the bank. He said he put on a wig…" There had never been any direct evidence of any of this before, the lawyer said. "No court had ever heard this evidence under oath before. Then, under immense pressure from the defence and whose law- yers were shouting…the prose- cutor asked Muscat who had en- tered the bank, and who he was with. He said he could not put his family's safety at risk." Gatt contested the assertion, made by prosecuting lawyer Etienne Savona from the Office of the Attorney General, that his client had not been prepared to tell the whole truth. "This is not true…here you do not have a witness who doesn't want to tes- tify," he said, pointing to other cases where this had happened. Gatt also told the court that he was "hurt" by Magistrate Axiaq's decision to impose the maxi- mum punishment on Debono. He pointed to the heightened security arrangements required whenever Vince Muscat attends court, with armed officers even standing inside the courtroom. This was a necessity, he said, contrasting it to the absence of any such security arrangements for his client. Debono was in the relative safety of prison, said the law- yer, but he feared for his family's safety. "The magistrate had or- dered everyone out of the hall, and asked the inspector whether any witness protection had been offered to Debono's relatives outside prison. He said no." "Is there anyone who doubts that he is at high risk? Just be- cause of newspaper articles at- tributing nefarious crimes to him?" Gatt said. The lawyer emphatically ar- gued that this was not a case where the maximum punish- ment was due. Mr. Justice Bugeja adjourned the case to October for judge- ment. Lawyers Edward Gatt and Ishmael Psaila are representing Debono. Lawyer Etienne Savona appeared on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General. magius@mediatoday.com.mt Joe Giglio claims Iosif Galea allowed to travel out of Malta whilst on police bail LUKE VELLA THE Maltese authorities al- lowed Iosif Galea to travel out of the country while he was on police bail, having been inter- rogated over suspected involve- ment in financial crime, the Na- tionalist Party said. In a press conference on Tues- day, Opposition home affairs spokesperson Joe Giglio said the failure of local authorities to act on the European Arrest Warrant issued by the German police against Galea, meant the the country's security was un- der threat. Maltese gaming consultant Io- sif Galea was arrested in Italy on the night between the 14 and 15 May on the strength of a Euro- pean Arrest Warrant issued by Germany. Galea had travelled to Italy for a holiday from Mal- ta with a group of friends that included former prime minister Joseph Muscat and his wife Mi- chelle. "Despite the arrest warrant, our country never carried out its duty and executed the arrest warrant. He travelled from Mal- ta three times, however he was never arrested," Giglio said. "This means that the Home Affairs Minister and the Police Commissioner failed miserably in their duties. This puts Mal- ta's security in jeopardy, as this means that potentially there are arrest warrants which local authorities are not aware of," Giglio said. He also said that the Mal- tese police corps committed a "second failure" when allowing Galea to travel out of Malta, whilst on police bail. Accord- ing to Giglio, Galea was being investigated for financial crimes and had been granted police bail. "One of the conditions of police bail is that the person should not go abroad, unless a permission is granted by the po- lice. This means that Galea left the country with the blessing and approval of the police com- missioner," Giglio said. He said the situation was "wor- rying", adding it did not make sense for the Police Commis- sioner to investigate himself. "If there were shortcomings from top officials within the corps, the responsibility should fall in the hands of the Prime Minister," Giglio said, calling for an independent investiga- tion. In parliament on Monday, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri stated that an internal investigation was being carried out by police in order to deter- mine why Galea was not arrest- ed in Malta. "The police corps and its repu- tation took another hit. We are in a situation where the work of the Maltese police was car- ried out by Italian authorities," Giglio said.