Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1483693
NEWS 5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 9 NOVEMBER 2022 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ICSID has been described as "a private, global super court that empowers corporations to bend countries to their will." The request was made in the context of an ongoing case — one not being heard in public — filed by Alpene against Malta, in which the company has accused the country of unfairly targeting Pila- tus Bank, claiming Malta is using it as a scapegoat for the country's FATF greylisting with a view to expropriating it and claiming mil- lions of US Dollars in damages. Judge Christian Falzon Scerri, tasked with hearing the case filed by Repubblika, in which the NGO is seeking confirmation that the Maltese authorities had issued an order not to prosecute senior ranking officials at Pilatus Bank — in spite of what Repubblika say is clear evidence of wrongdoing — cautiously accepted the request in the face of stiff resistance by the NGO's lawyer, Jason Azzopardi. At the end of a heated exchange of submissions, the judge ruled that the proceedings would tem- porarily take place behind closed doors, binding the lawyers and parties present during the sitting not to reveal what was said. State Advocate Chris Soler said that the defendants could not even bind themselves to bring evidence of the decision given — which was described as a procedural order delivered by ICSID. Buttigieg and FCID Police In- spector Pauline D'Amato had been ordered to testify today by the judge, after a last-minute ex- change of applications and decrees in which the AG accused Repub- blika of "hiding behind" irrelevant sections of the Media and Defa- mation Act to conduct a "fishing expedition" for documents which they could not prove even existed. Any order to reveal the contents of a criminal investigation would "breach the presumption of inno- cence" as protected by the Consti- tution and the European Conven- tion on Human Rights, argued the AG. This argument, together with objections raised by the defend- ants, had been roundly rejected by the judge in a decree issued yester- day afternoon. Repubblika, through its lawyer Jason Azzopardi, is alleging that AG Victoria Buttigieg had issued what is known as a nolle prosequi — an order not to prosecute vis a vis Pilatus Bank owner Ali Sadr Hasheminejad, its operations su- pervisor Luis Rivera, the bank's di- rector Ghambari Hamidreza and bank official Mehmet Tasli. On October 10, Mr Justice Christian Falzon Scerri had up- held Repubblika's request to order police inspector Pauline D'Amato to testify and exhibit all instruc- tions, as well as any correspond- ence exchanged between the FCID and the Attorney General's Office regarding claims that At- torney General Victoria Buttigieg had issued an order not to prose- cute senior Pilatus Bank officials. The court had ordered the FCID Inspector to appear in court to give background and context be- hind the requests for international and European Arrest Warrants that she had filed before inquiring magistrate Ian Farrugia in Febru- ary 2021. The court had also or- dered her to exhibit copies of the international or European Arrest Warrants and give the court a first-hand account of the actions taken by the FCID from Decem- ber 2020 to June 2022, following the conclusion of the magisterial inquiry into the bank. Tuesday's sitting continued be- hind closed doors. Judge partially accedes to AG's request to testify behind closed doors in Repubblika's Pilatus case Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg Man granted bail after admitting to knife attack on love rival MATTHEW AGIUS A 23-year-old man from Tarx- ien has been released on bail pending sentencing in January, after admitting to using a knife to wound another man in an argument over a girl. Tyler Camilleri appeared in the dock before magistrate Joe Mifsud on Tuesday, charged with threatening, attacking and slightly injuring his al- leged victim with a knife. He was also accused of carrying a knife in public without a police permit. Camilleri, who said he works as a driver with a popular transportation app, was ar- raigned by police inspectors Paul Camilleri and Antonello Magri. The prosecution explained that Camilleri had been ro- mantically pursuing a woman who was already in a relation- ship. Her partner had sent a message to Camilleri, telling him to leave her alone and Camilleri had replied that he would comply - on condition that he was paid €10,000. Some days later, the men bumped into one another in the Paola village square and insults were exchanged, at which point the confrontation escalated into an argument. Camilleri had then made mat- ters worse by pulling out a knife. The accused pleaded guilty to the charges. The court adjourned the case till the new year for the man's probation officer to report as well as for submissions on punishment, in the meantime releasing Camilleri on bail against a €500 deposit and a €2,000 personal guarantee. Camilleri was placed under a supervision order. The court also issued a protection order in favour of the victims. Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri were defence counsel.