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€0.90 WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION WEDNESDAY • 26 March 2014 • issue 357 • published every wednesday and sunday Newspaper post Editorial - PAGE 11 Dingli tragedy THE police investigation into the death of 15-year-old Lisa Maria Zahra is focusing on two notes, believed to be the last messages left by the teenager and a 23-year-old sup- ply teacher who is still undergoing intensive care at Mater Dei Hospital. Zahra and Erin Tanti were found on Wednesday, 19 March in an area called Ta' Zuta, at Dingli Cliffs, after they had been first reported missing to the police. Zahra was found dead, believed to be from injuries incurred in a fall, while Tanti suf- fered extensive injuries incurred in a fall at a spot that was some distance away from where Zahra was found. MaltaToday was told by two police sources connected to the investigation that both Za- hra, a pupil of the St Michael 's Foundation, and Tanti, a supply teacher of drama, each left a message to their loved ones. This newspaper is not aware of the con- tents of these messages. But new facts have emerged of the pic- ture that preceded the tragic fall. The first missing person's report was filed at the police station at Valletta, by Tanti 's sister. Tanti was at the time act- ing in the play Festen, adapted to the stage by the Masquerade theatre company. Police looking into last messages New warning to hunters FOLLOWING incidents of shooting of protected birds that occurred over the past two days, the police and officers from the Specialist Enforcement Branch of the Wild Birds Regulation Unit apprehended two poachers. One suspect was charged under arrest yesterday afternoon and accused in court with shooting a protected species, hunting during a closed season, handling a fire- arm within prohibited distances, and inciting others to commit a crime. The court found the poacher guilty of the charges and meted out a three-month jail sentence suspended for a year, a fine of €1,000, confiscation of his shot- gun and suspension of his license for two years. The second suspect is being in- vestigated and is expected to be charged shortly. CONTINUES ON PAGE 3 CONTINUES ON PAGE 3 Citizenship scheme 'Government forced our hand to turn to European Parliament' MIRIAM DALLI IN a calm parliamentary debate on the Opposition's second motion to revoke the legal notice on the Indi- vidual Investor Programme, speech- es focused on around the same argu- ments echoed in the last months. The government has insisted the scheme would bring an injection of funds that will improve the citizens' lives; the Opposition has argued the legal notice is not in line with what was agreed with the European Commis- sion. The motion did not pass. Contrary to previous debates on the subject, only a handful of MPs – both government and Opposition – were present in the Chamber at the beginning of the debate. The major- ity joined in after 8pm before a vote on the motion took place at around 9.30pm. While Prime Minister Joseph Mus- cat did not intervene in the discus- sion, leader of the Opposition Simon Busuttil closed off the debate. Recounting the number of times the scheme was changed, Busut- til said the government should have made the programme good from the start. "It had to be the European Parlia- ment to provide a shield for the Mal- tese and ensure there was a genuine link between applicants and the is- land," he said. Describing the government's posi- tion as shameful, Busuttil said the Opposition had to turn to the Euro- pean Parliament to force the govern- ment's hand to ensure that applicants had a genuine link to Malta. "We are Europe, something which the government has not realised. Something which the government conveniently likes to forget is that, before we went to the EP, there was had been no obligation." Rebutting allegations that it was the Opposition, with its interven- tion in the European Parliament, that caused harm to Malta's reputation, Busuttil insisted it was the govern- ment's idea to sell citizenships that had embarrassed the island. Busuttil said the monitoring com- mittee that will monitor processed applications should meet frequently. He said if the government does not publish the list of every person grant- ed citizenship, including his nation- ality and country of origin, the Op- position would publish it itself. He insisted the monitoring com- mittee should ensure that the appli- cant has given clear evidence that he had lived 12 months in Malta. Busuttil said if the government does not voluntarily publish the Henley & Partners contract, the Opposition would ask the Public Accounts Com- mittee to call for its publication and have it examined. CONTINUES ON PAGE 3 Erin Tanti Jason Azzopardi moved the motion which was defeated yesterday

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