Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1495439
2 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 22 MARCH 2023 2 MATTHEW VELLA THE anti-corruption NGO Re- pubblika has accused the Mal- tese police of ignoring the orders of a magisterial inquiry to carry out intensive searches of Ene- malta offices as part of the probe into alleged corruption in the Montenegro wind farm scandal. The Times reported that the corruption probe into the Mon- tenegro wind farm deal – news of which prompted the sack- ing of former energy minister Konrad Mizzi from the Labour Party – has stalled, with sourc- es pointing to police "delays" in executing plans for a physical search of Enemalta's offices. The search was deemed neces- sary to shed further light on the deal, in the hope of seizing doc- umentary evidence necessary to build up a case. A law firm en- gaged by Enemalta to carry out an audit of the deal flagged how e-mail accounts of board mem- bers were not made available to it, since directors do not hold a corporate e-mail account. "Despite the alleged 'disgust' expressed by Prime Minister Robert Abela at what happened on Joseph Muscat's watch with Mizzi and Yorgen Fenech, the police have ignored magisterial directives to carry out searches at Enemalta and emails of di- rectors implicated in this fraud," Repubblika president Robert Aquilina said. Aquilina said such a search should have been carried out fortwith without any prean- nouncing, in a bid to secure the evidence. "Instead police are waiting years to do what they have to do, until pressure mounts on them by alerting the thieves of some press report." Aquilina said Abela had to carry the can for keeping in place home affairs minister Byron Camilleri and Commis- sioner of Police Angelo Gafà. "Their mission has been solely to protect Joseph Muscat and his criminal associates, Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi and Yorgen Fenech." Repubblika accused the police force of obstruction and criminal complicity, persisting in hinder- ing investigations such as those of Panama Papers, Pilatus Bank and the Vitals hospitals scandal. "We cannot fight corruption today unless serious action is taking on the corruption of yes- teryear: we cannot start healing as long as Camilleri and Gafà remain accomplices to this inac- tion." MEP David Casa wrote to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and to the Vice President in charge of the rule of law Vera Jourova, complaining about the stalled investigation. "As more time passes, the Po- lice Commissioner, responsible for prosecuting crime, instead continues to defend it. There is an agenda to protect Robert Abela's predecessors which is trumping the integrity of the jus- tice system. It is nothing short of state capture by criminal inter- ests." Casa's letter follows reports that the Police Financial Crimes Investigations Department con- tradicted a magisterial order to search Enemalta premises. "De- spite evidence everywhere you look, of widespread corruption that robbed the Maltese blind, investigations appear to be scup- pered," Casa said in a letter to the Commission. "A raid was ordered by the inquiring magistrate in early December... To date, the Police Financial Crimes Investigations Department has refused to con- duct it. "In doing so, it has branded it- self as a persistent spoke in the wheels of justice, stultifying the work of the magisterial inquiry for the sole reason of benefiting those in power, those criminals who have pillaged the state cof- fers." Casa slammed the govern- ment for what he said were "fake on-paper reforms" – he saoid these were only a ploy to stave off scrutiny for the collapse in prosecuting high-level corrup- tion committed by Labour gov- ernment officials, while prais- ing those who have spent years fighting in the absence of an ef- fective police force. Casa recalled his letter to Von der Leyen when she took office amidst the 2019 protests in the dying days of the Muscat ad- ministration. "Malta was on the precipice then, and its descent as concerns the rule of law has been further accelerated by his successor's inability to prosecute corruption, or worse still, his propensity to afford impunity to Muscat and his accomplices," the letter ends. Casa calls for Brussels action over reports police stalled Enemalta search Anti-corruption NGO Repubblika says prime minister must remove minister and police chief over delayed investigation into Enemalta wind farm scandal Repubblika president Robert Aquilina (left) and PN MEP David Casa AFTER the success of its first edition as a 10-year anniversay issue for the Faculty for Social Wellbeing, Unity returns for a second edition, published with MaltaTo- day and distributed for free on Sunday, 26 March. The 24-page supplement features con- tributions from heads of department and teaching staff from the faculty, as well as MaltaToday contributors. "This is the second edition of Unity, edited by Prof. Marvin Formosa. It is another Fac- ulty for Social Wellbeing initiative intended to share with a wider audience the data that we collect through scholarship and dissem- inate it in this format," said Faculty Dean Prof. Andrew Azzopardi. "This newspaper is packed with interviews, cartoons, stories, surveys and research find- ings. The raison d'être remains that of high- lighting the challenges we are facing in soci- ety and how we can work to overcome these obstacles," Prof. Azzopardi added. Unity, as a newspaper publication, pro- vides a snapshot of key social problems that Malta is currently facing and wresting with following the various turning points and transitions experienced during the past decade. Unity features extensive pieces from Uni- versity of Malta staff dealing with subjects such as sexuality, euthanasia, disability, old age education, social work, scholarship and new research undertaken by the Faculty staff. The setting up of the Faculty for Social Wellbeing came about through the initia- tive of the then-Rector, Professor Juanito Camilleri, who in the spring of 2012 ap- proached various existing departments, in- stitutes and centres with a 'social wellbeing' focus, to explore the possibility of bringing these academic entities together. 'Unity' out with MaltaToday on Sunday James Debono MaltaToday DESPITE increased awareness on global warming and emis- sions, younger people and stu- dents seem to be more attached to their cars than older people, a survey on the effect of traffic on wellbeing undertaken by pollster Vincent Marmara and commis- sioned by the Faculty for Social Wellbeing at the University of Malta, suggests. This may show that for young people the car remains a pow- e r f u l s y m b o l of inde- pendence a n d s e l f - a c - t u a l i s - ation, despite its negative social and ecological impact, and a prevailing perception echoed in other questions in the survey that traffic is having a negative impact on well-being and men- tal health. One of the questions asked to respondents in this survey was whether they agreed with the statement: "I would pre- fer to not use my car if public transport was more reliable". The question is particularly in- teresting as it measures public willingness for a nodal shift if public transport becomes more reliable. The most likely to agree with the statement were respond- ents aged over 70, while the least likely to agree were re- spondents aged between 18 to 29. While among the former the average level of agreement was 5 out of a maximum 7, among the latter the average level of agreement was 3.7. In the survey, 1 represented the least level of agreement while 7 represented full agreement. Unity PRINTED WITH MALTATODAY 26 MARCH 2023 EDITION 2 A SPECIAL EDITION FROM THE FACULTY FOR SOCIAL WELLBEING UNIVERSITY OF MALTA PAGES 20-21 Survey suggests that a third of respondents would still use their car less even if public transport is more reliable YOUNG LEAST LIKELY to DITCH CAR FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT Inside... Matt Paris: My life with psychosis... "I have four negative hallucinations which I experience on a day-to-day basis. At times they are all around, especially on bad days, three persons and a talking dog" INTERVIEW PAGES 14-15 For & Against Euthanasia OUR EXPERTS DEBATE PAGES 4-5