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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 • 11 JANUARY 2026 Ricky's whitewashing kangaroo court Editorial RICKY Caruana can invite whoever he wants on his podcast. He can also adopt whatever style of questioning he fancies. But to invite a convicted sexual offender, allow him to say what he pleases and completely disregard the court's findings is not only crass but dangerous. Caruana invited former national team goal- keeper Justin Haber last week to give his side of the story. It was more like, Haber emphasising those parts of the story that suited his agenda, while ignoring what the Criminal Court found him guilty of: "Subjecting another person... a vulnerable minor under the age of 15, to an act or behaviour of a sexual connotation, including words and deeds... that could reasonably be con- sidered as offensive, humiliating, degrading and intimidatory towards her." Court filings show that Haber repeated slapped the underage employee on her buttocks and once kissed her on the lips. The crux of it all was that the victim was a minor and significantly Haber was her boss. Haber was handed down a suspended sentence last September and the court ordered his name to be listed in the sex offenders' register. The sen- tence in its entirety was confirmed by the Crimi- nal Appeals Court last week after Judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera gave short shrift to Haber's appeal. Just as the ink on the appeals ruling was still drying up, Haber found a very accommodating host to file another appeal; this time in Ricky's court of public opinion—a kangaroo court where wrongdoing is whitewashed, rarely challenged, or confronted with facts. And this is where an interview like Ricky's be- comes dangerous. Under the guise of giving Haber the chance to state his side of the story, Caruana allowed the former goalkeeper to publicly shame his victim and blame his ex-girlfriend for what he implied was a frame-up. These claims were left unchal- lenged and never confronted with the court's ac- tual conclusions. But Haber went one step further. He even sug- gested that the magistrate had shifted her opinion on the case after he was found guilty in a separate case of threatening his sister. Again, such serious statements were allowed to stand; unchallenged. Haber's intention was clear. He wanted to win brownie points with the general public by por- traying himself as the victim—a man whose sensitivity towards his underage employees was abused. But neither a magistrate nor a judge be- lieved his version of events. Indeed, neither Haber nor Caruana seem to un- derstand the gravity of the situation. This was a case involving an employer and an employee—a power dynamic that puts the employee in a vul- nerable position unless the relationship is con- sensual. But in Haber's case, the situation was made worse because the employee was underage. And no, it's not OK to slap an employee's but- tocks in jest. It's only worse if that employee happens to be an underage girl. It's not OK to give an employee an unsolicited kiss on the lips or anywhere else for that matter. It's even more problematic if she happens to be underage. We are not surprised with Haber's audacity to go on Ricky's podcast to try and clear his reputa- tion. It's what some offenders try to do when they are convicted of a crime. People like Haber tend to blame everyone else, including the judiciary, for their predicament. But Caruana should have known better than offer his platform to a con- victed sex offender without having the decency and temerity to even question and challenge the guest's assertions. Caruana may play dumb and insist his podcast is open to anybody, including the victim, but he cannot escape the fact that what he did was nothing short of reputation laundering. Ministers' assets Robert Abela is right when he says that the an- nual declaration of assets and income of minis- ters and MPs should be equally onerous. But he is wrong to dismantle one system without replacing it with something more robust and transparent. It is wrong for Abela to stop publishing the declaration of assets of ministers simply because he deems their declaration as MPs is enough. His actions have reduced transparency and ac- countability rather than strengthened them. It is a shame that he has chosen this road because it suggests there is something to hide. We would like to see proper declarations filled in every year detailing income, assets, tax paid, positions occupied and jobs held outside parlia- ment for all MPs, including ministers, and their spouses. We would like to see these declarations uploaded on parliament's website and made ac- cessible to the public. We would like to see fines introduced for MPs and ministers who fail to file their declaration on time or submit incomplete documentation. We would like to see more ac- countability and transparency, not less. Quote of the Week "Therefore, transparency within the leadership of the public sector has taken a big step back. This sends a very negative message." – – Standards Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi on the prime minister's unilateral decision to stop publishing the asset declarations of ministers because their declarations as MPs are enough. MaltaToday 10 years ago University gave Catholic burial to Jehovah's Witness who gave body for medical research 11 January 2016 A woman who agreed to donate her body to the Univel'sity of Malta's anat 1my depart- ment was buried a few days after her death - against her express wish - without her family even beinginfonned. Devout Jehovah's witness Beryl Schembri, who passed away on 13 May last year, had signed a11 agreement with the University of Malta for her bodv to be donated for ana- tomical res arch and study purposes. However six days after she died, the Uni- versity of Malta decided to bury Schembri's body - most controversially, in an unmarked grave at the Addolorata Cemetery - without even informing her hus band or any of their five children. One of her dlaughters, Melissa, only got to know in October, five months after her death, that her mother had bee11 buried af- ter calling the univel'sity to enquire whether she could see the body. "But when I called I got theshotk of my life. I was told that I couldn't see the body because they had bur ied her," Melissa Schembri said. "If I hadn't called, we would still be in the dark about my mother's burial," a visibly dis- traught Schem briadds. Schembri was told that the em balming pro- cess had not been suc cessfuI and the anato- my depart ment unilaterally decided to bury Beryl Schembri's body. [...]