Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1512576
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 DECEMBER 2023 Malta should do the right thing and drop the charges against the El Hiblu 3 Editorial KONI Tiemoko Abdoul Khader, Amara Kromah and Abdalla Bari were 15, 16, and 19 years old when they were charged in Malta with hijacking the El Hiblu 1, an oil tanker that had rescued them and 108 other people fleeing Libya from the sea. Four years after the three young men were first charged in a Maltese court, the Attorney General last week decided to formally indict them for 'acts of terrorism'. This is a gross injustice against these three men who risk serving life sentences for acting as mediators between the ship's crew and the migrants who had just been rescued. Amnesty International, the international human rights group, called it "a travesty of jus- tice" and in no uncertain terms, Elisa De Pieri, the group's regional researcher, said "the Attor- ney General has taken more than four-and-a- half years to make the worst possible decision." The decision to push ahead with the very serious charge of terrorism flies in the face of compelling testimony by several witnesses throughout the compilation of evidence that showed how the three men – who were the only ones who could speak English – acted as inter- locutors between the rescued migrants and the ship's crew during the ordeal. The only contrary evidence were the words of the ship's captain during radio communication with the Maltese authorities in which he said his vessel had been hijacked by pirates. Prose- cutors have insisted the three men coerced the ship's captain to sail the ship towards Malta instead of returning the migrants to Libya. This evidence was however contradicted by several witnesses who said no violence or threats were made. The length of time it took the AG to issue the bill of indictment – four long years and more – is also evidence that the matter was not as clear cut as prosecutors made it out to be ini- tially. And yet, the AG has persisted with what appears to be nothing more than a trumped-up charge with potentially catastrophic conse- quences for the young men. The AG could have dropped the charges al- together and yet here we are with the Maltese State coming down in full force on three young men whose biggest crime was knowing how to communicate in English. There is still time to correct the injustice. It is not the first time the State has decided to drop charges or opt for less onerous charges. It is ironic and tragic that in a separate and unrelated case the AG dropped the charge of attempted homicide against one of the per- petrators in the HSBC heist case in a failed attempt to extract damning testimony against a co-conspirator. In that instance, the evidence was strong enough to keep that charge intact but the AG tried to bargain for a lower charge in exchange for testimony. There is also the tool of nolle prosequi, which has been used recently by the AG to drop cas- es against several Pilatus Bank officials even though an inquiring magistrate said there was enough evidence for them to be charged with money laundering. The reason we bring up these cases is to illus- trate that the AG has the power and discretion to decide what charges should be filed against an individual or individuals suspected of a crime. It should not be hard for any right-thinking individual who has followed the compilation of evidence over the past four years to reach the conclusion that the El-Hiblu 3, as they are re- ferred to in the international campaign to free them, are simply being made to pay the price so that the Maltese State can appear tough with migrants. It is astonishing in a twisted way that a gov- ernment that has championed civil rights so assiduously over the past 10 years is perpetrat- ing such an injustice against three young men. This is nothing short of a bullying tactic against the most vulnerable of individuals. This leader joins in the appeal being made by human rights defenders, not least Amnesty In- ternational, to the Maltese State to drop these charges and allow these three young men the chance to continue with their lives. Malta must do the right thing and free the El Hiblu 3. Quote of the Week "Pierre Fenech had acted upon orders he had received when approving the contract of service." A spokesperson for the Tourism Ministry defending the decision not to remove ITS CEO Pierre Fenech despite the National Audit Office finding that the consultancy job he gave to MP Rosianne Cutajar in 2019 was irregular. MaltaToday 10 years ago 1 December 2013 €4.3 million expropriation deal on eve of election DESPITE owing over €80 million in compen- sation to landowners whose lands were ex- propriated by the state, a restaurateur was awarded a €4.3 million land swap in a com- pensation deal brokered just four days be- fore the 2013 general elections. The former Nationalist government gave Raymond Vella, owner of the now-demolished Mare d'Oro restaurant in Fekruna Bay, Xemxija, over 5,6000 square metres of land in Wied Ghollieq in San Gwann and Ta' Xghajrat in Swieqi, valued at €4.3 million. The 1,443 square metres of land in Fekru- na Bay were valued at €4.9 million on the basis of the sort of development permitted under the local plan approved by the Nationalist government in 2006, which foresaw a "leisure coastal facility" and residential units built on the same area. Former parliamentary secretary for lands, now Nationalist MP, Jason Azzopardi con- firmed that the deal was struck days before the March 2013 election because the process to find land at a similar value had been a compli- cated one that had taken months. "I have nothing to hide on this matter. In fact I invite you to look at the file of this case which includes all documents and re- ports related to the valuation of the land in question." Azzopardi said that the government had take a decision to remove the eyesore consti- tuted by the derelict structures of the Mare d'Oro restaurant. "The only way to remove that eyesore and stop any future development from taking place was by expropriating it. And the only way we could expropriate the land was by offering compensation to the owners with either money, or land which had a similar value," Azzopardi said. He also specified that the initiative to re- claim Fekruna Bay for the public was initiated by another ministry. Azzopardi acknowledged that the land had been valued on the potential development that was allowable under local plans, that were in fact penned and sanctioned under successive Nationalist administrations."