Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1530133
2 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 4 DECEMBER 2024 2 NICOLE MEILAK nmeilak@mediatoday.com.mt JORDAN PACE jpace@mediatoday.com.mt Parliament discusses motion allowing GWU to lease out Valletta property THE General Workers' Union will be able to lease parts of its Valletta headquarters to differ- ent companies regardless of the amount of shares held by the union, in exchange for nearly €2 million in compensation paid to the Government, according to a parliamentary resolution. The resolution, discussed on Tuesday, seeks to remove a clause that limited the GWU to leasing parts of its building to companies in which the GWU holds more than 51% of the shares. In 1957, the government grant- ed the GWU the Workers' Me- morial Building on a perpetual emphyteusis as a site on which it can build its headquarters for trade union activities and its Union Press. A parliamentary resolution in 1997 amended the lease, allowing the union to rent our parts of the property to other companies – but only to those in which it is a majority sharehold- er. However, a NAO report in 2015 found that the GWU had breached the conditions of its government lease when it rented out part of the building to state- owned utilities company ARMS and the Sciacca Grill steakhouse. Through an "expert valuation" prepared by three architects commissioned by the Lands Au- thority, the monetary value for the removal of this condition was determined to be €1,809,350. Meanwhile, the GWU will have to pay compensation for breach- ing this condition over the years. This compensation was calculat- ed at around €184,620. In total, the GWU will have to pay €1,993,970 to the gov- ernment for the removal of the clause and past breaches of the agreement. Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Nationalist MP Darren Carabott said the Opposition will be voting against the resolution. "This resolution is being pro- posed because a court identified a breach in the original con- tract conditions, and because they couldn't pass through the front door they're trying to pass through the window. This isn't how things should happen," Car- abott said. Lands minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi defended the resolu- tion, saying the court identified a breach but still allowed for changes to the conditions of the agreement. "The Opposition's intention in opening the court case was clear – to attack the concession itself and evict the GWU," he said. A division of votes was request- ed when the resolution was put to a vote. This will take place on 16 December. MUSA Bayo has been acquitted of all charges after being wrongly implicated in a violent altercation that left one man with grievous in- juries. Two other men have been sentenced to one year in prison. A court has cleared Musa Bayo of any involvement in a violent incident in which two other men assaulted Abdel Raouf with a fry- ing pan, causing grievous injuries. The case also involved theft allega- tions, but Bayo was found to have played no part in the altercation. The incident occurred on 30 April 2023, in a shared residen- tial building. According to wit- ness accounts, Kah Abdoulie and Dampha Tauman entered Abdel Raouf Mohfoudi Ali Hassan's room uninvited after Abdoulie demanded the return of €20 from Hassan's girlfriend. His girlfriend told him not to let him in as she didn't know him. He tried to stop him from entering but Abdoulie forced his way in by pushing Has- san out of the way. Abdoulie seized a frying pan from the kitchen, emptied its con- tents onto the floor, and used it to strike Raouf on the forehead. Wit- nesses, including Hassan's girl- friend and her mother, described how Raouf collapsed after being hit, sustaining injuries to his face and hands. Tauman also assaulted Raouf during the altercation, according to testimonies. Hassan's girlfriend and her mother tried to intervene and call the police, but Abdoulie grabbed the phone and left the scene with Tauman. The court found Abdoulie and Tauman guilty of causing grievous injuries to Raouf but dismissed theft charges. The court acquitted Musa Bayo after evidence showed he had no involvement in the violence. In- stead, witnesses testified that he had tried to separate the parties during the altercation. Elabed and her mother corroborated this, stating that Bayo attempted to diffuse the situation and did not participate in any aggressive acts. The prosecution's handling of Bayo's case came under scrutiny, with the court criticising the de- cision to charge him despite clear evidence of his innocence. In a scathing rebuke, the court highlighted the potentially dev- astating effects of criminal pro- ceedings on individuals wrongly accused. "Criminal proceedings have a potentially traumatic and dev- astating effect on peoples' lives, not to mention that they rob an individual of his earnestly gained financial resources which go to financing his defence, unjustly de- priving him of days on end spent in the Law Courts and in the dock which time could have been lived freely." "The injustice towards Musa Bayo is compounded by the fact that six months later when the Court, as differently presided, was again called upon to decide whether a prima facie case existed, there was no contestation by the defence and the Court proceeded for the second time to find that there was a case to answer with respect to the three defendants." the ruling stated. Medical evidence presented in court confirmed the extent of Raouf's injuries, which show harm of a grievous nature on the hands and face. Abdoulie and Tauman were sen- tenced to one year in prison for their roles in the incident, with time spent in preventive custody deducted from their sentences. They were also ordered to pay €151 each in expert fees. Two jailed and one wrongly charged as court hands sentence on violent altercation Court gives scathing rebuke of prosecution's handling of the case against Musa Bayo, who was cleared of any involvement The General Workers' Union building in Valletta