Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1502123
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 JUNE 2023 NEWS A sick kind of justice Brother of murder victim Brian Rosso says his family was let down when an open-and-shut murder case was allowed to drag on, with the accused who signed guilty statements in 2005 now acquitted after benefiting from new rights acquired in 2016. MATTHEW VELLA speaks to Danny Rosso DANNY Rosso is speaking out: the men who were accused of murdering his brother Brian in 2005 had signed guilty state- ments to the police when they were charged that same year, ad- mitting of having shot Rosso and dumped his body out at sea. 18 years later, the verdict of yet another delayed trial by jury is in: acquittal for Anthony Bugeja and Piero di Bartolo, thanks to the fact that at the time of their in- terrogation, the statements they made to the police were without any form of legal assistance. Danny Rosso knew, as the trial by jury entered its final days last week, that after so much clear- cut evidence in the case against his brother's murderers had been declared inadmissible by the Court, jurors would be directed to ignore all the evidence. "I'm sorry for the prosecution," Danny Rosso says. "They were facing an uphill battle, despite the evidence and admission of these two men. And not too many feathers in the cap for the defence counsels, who had little to do, ex- cept to object to any sort of proof presented in court." In 2022, the determining state- ments given by Bugeja, 55, and Di Bartolo, 49, for the murder of Albert 'Brian' Rosso back in 2005, were held to be inadmissi- ble, because they had been given without legal assistance. It was only five years after the Rosso murder that the right to consult a lawyer, for not longer than one hour prior to interrogation, was introduced under Maltese law. In 2016, the right to legal assistance was granted all throughout the pre-trial stage, including during the interrogation. Bugeja and Di Bartolo had been interrogated at length back in 2005, releasing three and four statements respectively. They were neither cautioned nor al- lowed to seek legal assistance, a right which at the time was not provided for under Maltese law. Subsequently, both were charged with wilful homicide, possessing a firearm while com- mitting a crime against the per- son as well as disposing of the corpse. Rosso's body was never retrieved. But almost two decades years after the murder, the Criminal Court, presided over by Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera, declared the accused's statements as inadmissible since they were given without legal assistance and could thus result in irremedi- able prejudice for the accused – a right introduced in 2016, while the Rosso murder trial had yet to be appointed. "Brian was a family man, a hardworking man, a father of a 15-year-old when he was mur- dered... he disappeared the day his wife was waiting for him to return from work, so that they could celebrate their wedding anniversary. Today, she is still waiting for justice," Danny Rosso says. A marine biologist at the San Luċjan Aquaculture Cetre, Brian Rosso had a fishing trawler co- owned by Bugeja. Police claim that a violent row broke out when Rosso met Bugeja outside his Marsaxlokk home over the fishing vessel Desiree. Bugeja allegedly fetched a firearm and shot Rosso in the presence and in agreement with Di Bartolo, who used to operate the vessel. The men then allegedly placed the victim's body inside a sack, transported it out to sea and dumped their load near the Free- port, weighing down the sack by means of some stone blocks. "Di Bartolo and Bugeja had con- cocted a story to scare Brian into believing that a group of Sicilian fishers wanted him dead because he had reported them for fishing illegally in Maltese waters," Dan- ny Rosso says. "Under interrogation, first they claimed not to have seen Brian the day of his disappearance, and later alleged they saw 'some Sicil- ians' bundling him up in a black car and speeding off... until they finally admitted of having shot him and got rid of his body at sea. "Their separate statements to the police were corroborated... and they explained how they had "Brian was a family man, a hardworking man, a father of a 15-year-old when he was murdered... he disappeared the day his wife was waiting for him to return from work, so that they could celebrate their wedding anniversary. Today, she is still waiting for justice"