Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/437144
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 21 DECEMBER 2014 4 News CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 "Gatt told the 2011 inquiry led by Martin Sci- cluna that he had recommended that disciplinary steps be taken when he established that there had been neg- ligence on the part of the officers responsible for the escape of Nwok- oye," the sources said. On 13 October 2011 – two months after the Scicluna inquiry into the Nwokoye death was submitted to the government – the home affairs ministry issued a statement to the public saying that it was taking on board the seven recommendations from the inquiry. The report was never published due to the ongoing magisterial inquiry; it remains unpublished to this day, de- spite Prime Minister Joseph Muscat having published the 2012 Valenzia report into the death of Mamadou Kamara. But at the time of the government statement, the home affairs minister had stated that "steps had already been taken" and that the ministry was considering taking "expeditious disciplinary steps without compro- mising ulterior proceedings that can result in the magisterial inquiry." The Kamara inquiry report re- vealed the two weights and two measures applied in the disciplinary steps against army personnel detailed to the Detenetion Services: while the DS officers responsible for the April 2011 escape were not disciplined, an AFM soldier who struck Nwokoye as he was being brought back to the detention centre, was disciplined, former army commander Brigadier Martin Xuereb had said. Nwokoye was one of six asylum seekers who escaped from the Safi detention centre on the night of 16- 17 April 2011. "Immediately after the case hap- pened, Brian Gatt wanted discipli- nary steps to be taken," the army sources told MaltaToday. "When they refused to make a statement he started proceedings to have them dismissed. Mifsud Bonnici then told him to wait for the outcome of the magisterial inquiry." Four months later on 26 August, the Scicluna inquiry presented its findings, and on 13 October 2011, the government published a state- ment on the report's recommenda- tions. "The truth of the matter is laid out in further detail in what Gatt actu- ally told the Scicluna inquiry board, but unless the 2011 report and its testimonies are published, the full extent of what happened cannot be revealed," the army source said. In parliament, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has said that Brian Gatt was told that no steps should be taken because the police were still investigating the matter, but as it turned out, neither Commissioner of Police John Rizzo nor AFM com- mander Martin Xuereb had been in- formed of the outcome of the Nwok- oye inquiry, and no disciplinary steps were ever taken. In a reaction to the report tabled in parliament, former home affairs minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici told parliament that he had ordered an inquiry into the death of the Nigerian migrant in 2011. "I had bound myself to publish the final report when the magisterial inquiry would be pub- lished. I have never covered up any- thing, never, never, never," he said, adding that he had never instructed anybody not to carry out their duties. He also has denied responsibility for the inquiry into the death of a Mal- ian migrant in 2012. By then, Mifsud Bonnici was no longer a minister and the Armed Forces of Malta had been transferred to the Office of the Prime Minister. Minister stopped commander from taking disciplinary steps Vacancy: Research and Innovation (R&I) Project Controller The Malta Council for Science and Technology requires the services of a full-time Research and Innovation (R&I) Project Controller. The selected candidate will monitor a number of assigned projects to ensure compliance with the nancial regulations of the funding source and the relevant grant agreements. The successful candidate would also manage the R&I Unit's nancial budget and disbursement requests. The ideal candidate should be in possession of MQF 6 qualication in Finance, Accounting, Technical and Management AND one year relevant work experience. Additionally, parts of the ACCA qualication would be an asset. Experience in the administration of EU projects and R&I projects will be considered an asset. You are kindly invited to submit your C.V. to mario.g.borg@gov.mt. Applications will be received until the 29th December 2014. ETC permit No.: 111/2014 The Malta Council For Science And Technology, Villa Bighi, Kalkara KKR 1320, Malta www.mcst.gov.mt Death of Ifeanyi Nwokoye Ifeanyi Nwokoye died in suspicious circumstances and his body remained frozen in the morgue for over two years as the authorities considered what action to take following the conclusion of a magisterial inquiry. Nwokoye, 29, died in hospital soon after he was recaptured following an escape from the Safi detention centre with six other migrants on April 16, 2011. The escape and death prompted a magisterial inquiry as well as a Government- appointed independent inquiry headed by Martin Scicluna. The Scicluna inquiry was said to have been refused access to Nwokoye's autopsy, so it was unable to conclude whether the blows were excessive and had caused his death. It was only in February 2014 that two DS officers were charged with the murder of Nwokoye. A funeral planned for Nwokoye in April 2013 had to be postponed at the last minute when it became clear to his family that the Maltese authorities could be held responsible for the man's death. He was finally buried in May 2013. In the case of Malian migrant Mamadou Kamara, who had escaped detention while still not having undergone his asylum claim's assessment, he was arrested months later while availing himself of medical care at the Floriana polyclinic. Two soldiers have been charged with Kamara's murder. A third soldier was accused of tampering with evidence. Mamadou Kamara