Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1537082
KARL AZZOPARDI kazzopardi@mediatoday.com.mt 7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 JULY 2025 NEWS Students, lecturer charged over FreeHour hacking case granted presidential pardon THREE students and a lecturer who were charged with hacking Malta's largest stu- dent app, FreeHour have been granted a presidential pardon. The students being charged are Michael Debono, 22, Giorgio Grigolo, 21, and Luke Bjorn Scerri, 23. They were all being accused of gaining unauthorised access to the app. Lecturer Mark Joseph Vella, 45, is al- so being charged as an accomplice, after proofreading a certain email sent to Free- hour by the students. The government said the presidential pardon was granted following a political commitment made by Prime Minister Robert Abela and a recommendation by the Cabinet of Ministers. The Prime Minister had argued the mat- ter should not only be addressed from a legal perspective but also from the stand- point of what is fair and just, emphasising the State "must take responsibility when the country's laws require updating to re- flect technological realities." Criminal proceedings against the indi- viduals have now been brought to an end. Back in October 2022, the students scanned the app's software and discov- ered vulnerabilities in it. Giorgio Grigolo made a change to the app to inform FreeHour of this vulner- ability. He then took a screenshot of the change and then reverted everything back to its original state shortly after. The students then emailed FreeHour's founder, Zach Ciappara, outlining their findings and asked for a reward in return for finding this mistake. After receiving the email, Ciappara re- ported the matter to the police and an in- vestigation was opened. Scerri, Grigolo, and Debono were ar- rested at their homes in November of 2022 arrested and taken into custody. Po- lice strip-searched them, searched their homes, and seized various tech devices and equipment. KARL AZZOPARDI kazzopardi@mediatoday.com.mt The students were reported to the authorities after exposing a security flaw in student platform FreeHour's app (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday) Diver Dione Galdes dies after rescue on Sunday DIONE Galdes has been iden- tified as the diver who died at Mater Dei Hospital on Tues- day. 59-year-old Galdes was on Sunday rescued after finding himself in difficulty while diving was confirmed dead on Tuesday. The police said a magisteri- al inquiry has been launched and investigations are ongo- ing after the man succumbed to his injuries at Mater Dei Hospital. The police were notified of the incident at around 9am. He was assisted by others who were with him at the time and pulled from the sea. After receiving medical assistance, he was taken by ambulance to Mater Dei for urgent medical treatment. Magistrate Ian Farrugia is leading an inquiry. Dione Galdes diving near a wreck (Photo: Facebook) Crossing the white line: Wardens fired for snorting cocaine in LESA van THREE LESA officers have been fired after they were filmed snorting cocaine inside a LESA van last weekend. Sources confirmed the three have been fired after the video showing them snorting the co- caine in public went viral. The three were identified by LESA managment, and were fired on the same day. The incident happened be- tween Monday and Tuesday night. The case was brought to public attention by lawyer Jason Azzo- pardi, who said on Facebook they were inside an Isuzu LESA van. Officers fired after getting caught snorting cocaine inside a LESA van in the night between Saturday and Sunday Three LESA officers have been suspended after getting caught publicly snorting cocaine (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)