Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/470920
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 MARCH 2015 8 MATTHEW AGIUS RAKHAT Aliyev's chief legal rep- resentative described the former Kazakh diplomat as having been motivated to fight murder charges against him, and confident that he would be declared innocent, in his last conversation shortly before he was found dead in his cell in an Austrian prison – ostensibly by suicide. Aliyev, 52, had fled to Malta in 2010 after Austrian prosecutors started investigating a murder charge against him. Lawyer Klaus Ainedter was one of the last persons to speak to him. "He was highly motivated to fight the indictment and strongly be- lieved that he would be set free," Ainedter told MaltaToday. While he would not speculate on the cause of death due to the ongoing investigations – a second autopsy is to be held in the com- ing days – Ainedter said that Aus- trian public opinion was "clear in that they do not believe this was a normal suicide". Aliyev turned himself in to face charges on the murder of two Nurbank bankers in Astana, Ka- zakhstan after he was tried in ab- sentia by a Kazakh court and sen- tenced to 20 years in prison. Having served his father-in-law, dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev, as ambassador in Vienna in 2008, the Austrian government refused to extradite Aliyev. He was later forci- bly divorced from his wife, Dariga, daughter of Nazarbayev and sub- sequently married an employee, Elnara Shorazova, to benefit from her Austrian passport and be able to move across the EU. Ainedter pointed out that not two hours after Aliyev's death, the prison authorities had already an- nounced that he had killed himself in his cell. "If you are professional and believe in a legal system, you will wait until you have the facts in black on white before issuing a state- ment." he said. "The only thing the defence is re- questing are normal and reasonable investigations into the circumstanc- es surrounding his death." Asked what would become of Aliyev's considerable fortune – the former deputy head of the Kazakh security service had amassed mil- lions and was wanted on a money- laundering probe by German inves- tigators – Ainedter said it was too early to be discussing this. "The priority is to first of all, find out what happened and secondly to prevent the body being repatriated to Kazakhstan, as his wife wishes him to be buried in Vienna." Aliyev claimed to be the victim of an international harassment cam- paign directly financed by former father-in-law Nazarbayev, who has ruled Kazakhstan since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. He availed himself of his Schengen rights through his marriage to natu- ralised Austrian citizen Shorazova, and then settled in Malta under the assumed surname of Shoraz. In April 2013, his Austrian passport was re- pealed over irregularities in its issu- ing by the ministry of the interior. In 2012, former Kazakh prime minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin and his bodyguards Satzhan Ibraev and Pyotr Afanasenko instituted chal- lenge proceedings against the Mal- tese police, demanding that Aliyev be investigated for "crimes against humanity". The two men claimed to have been tortured on Aliyev's orders in 2001, on occasion being personally beaten by him in order to extract a false confession that their boss, Kazhegel- din, had been plotting a coup against Nazarbayev. The Attorney General's office had declined to prosecute, however, say- ing that the police had no jurisdic- tion to investigate crimes against humanity. TIM DIACONO SOME Maltese pig farms could be forced to shut down as the impact of a Russian trade ban on European food starts to bite. "For some farmers, this latest po- litically-induced crisis was the last straw," Pig Breeders Association general manager Oliver Frendo told MaltaToday. "Without any aid forth- coming, some of our members who have invested their lives and finances into their farms have already begun to depopulate. In some cases, entire families have been or will soon be forced to find other ways to make a living." Russia imposed a year-long ban on food imports from the EU, the United States, Australia, Canada and Norway last summer in response to economic sanctions for Russia's role in the Ukraine conflict. Although Maltese pig farmers do not sell their pork directly to Russia, the EU had exported 800,000 tonnes of pork to Russia each year before the embargo – and that represented a hefty 24% of the EU's total pork ex- portation. As Labour MEP and economist Al- fred Sant explained, the consequence of this sudden imbalance between pork supply and demand was a glut of pig-meat within the EU market. European pig farmers were inevita- bly forced to slash their prices, with some cutting them by as much as 18% within a few months of the em- bargo. Many EU pork producers cut their sale prices to below the Maltese production cost, making it tough for Maltese farmers to compete. This, Frendo said, has led to a "massive invasion of foreign pork into the market, led by large-scale importers whose only real concern is their bottom-line." Moreover, while the importers are certainly benefitting from cheaper pork prices, pork is still being sold to consumers at the original prices. "The Maltese farmer has been left with two terrible options," Frendo said. "They must either slash their prices drastically to invade foreign markets in turn, or keep their pigs on their farm and continue to feed and care for them without any pro- portional increase in income. "All have suffered huge losses." Indeed, local pork sales were 10% lower in the first weeks of 2015 than they were in the first few weeks of 2014. 'Europe trying to minimise the problem' Sant accused European Agricul- ture Commissioner Phil Hogan of attempting to minimise the severity of the problem. "Early last fall, I asked the Euro- pean Commission whether they will consider any form of aid to cover these circumstances, but they were non-committal in their reply," Sant said. Last week, Hogan announced that the EU will financially aid pork pro- ducers to stockpile their pork prod- ucts, so as to raise prices. While Maltese pig farmers may eventually benefit indirectly from this scheme, Frendo argued they will not receive any direct financial aid. This is be- cause the scheme requires average local farm-gate prices to be lower than €1.50 per kg of carcass. Short supply chains and negligible trans- port costs allow Maltese farmers to keep their farm-gate prices relatively high. News 'No normal suicide' – Aliyev lawyer Russian sanctions hitting Maltese pig farms COURT NOTICE The Registrar of Civil Courts and Tribunals informs that the Civil Court, First Hall ordered the following sales by auction: Date and time Place Items 4 th March, 2015 11.00am - 2/15 EM EUROLAND, TRIQ !A"- "ABBAR, FGURA Twenty Five (25) aircondition units of the make Gree. N.B. The said objects will be sold as described in the acts of file number 2/15. 4 th March, 2015 12.00pm - 1/15 JGL MZ SUPERMARKET, TRIQ IL- KOSTITUZZJONI, MOSTA Thirty two (32) aircondition units of the make Gree. 11 th March, 2015 9.30am - 7/15 PP GARAGE NUMBER TWELVE (12) AND GARAGE NUMBER THIRTEEN (13), METROPOLITAN BUILDINGS,TRIQ DUN FRANGISK CAMILLERI, HAMRUN Two (2) stainless steel display fridge counters, stainless steel fridge counter, units made of wood, wooden kiosk ice cream, overhead display wood shelf, and other various objects. 11 th March, 2015 10.00am - 8/15 EGL GARAGE NUMBER TWELVE (12) AND GARAGE NUMBER THIRTEEN (13), METROPOLITAN BUILDINGS,TRIQ DUN FRANGISK CAMILLERI, HAMRUN Stainless steel display fridge counters, units made of wood, overhead display wood shelf, and other various objects. 18 th March, 2015 11.00am - 32/11 JGL FIRST FLOOR , LAW COURTS, REPUBLIC STREET, VALLETTA One hundred (100) ordinary shares within the company S.C. & Company Limited C-6050 23 rd March, 2015 10.00am - 12/14 JGL KW 38, CORRADINO INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, PAOLA Cherry Picker coloured orange with the words RAMIRENT, Compressor Model 6125N 10A coloured blue with serial number F143/0956 of year 1996, Compressor Model 6125N 10A coloured blue with serial number F143/0957 of year 1996. 23 rd March, 2015 12.00pm - 9/15 PP HALL OF THESE COURTS OF JUSTICE, REPUBLIC STREET, VALLETTA Vessel MT 'LADY FERHAN', IMO number 9445411, registered in Turkey, property of Gemmar Gemi Isletmeleri AS, having a gross tonnage of 4347. 25 th March, 2015 9.30am - 5/15 JGL 33, TRIQ IL-!ELSIEN, !AL QORMI Vehicle of the make Mazda MX 5 green in colour with the registration BBJ 968. Further details can be obtained from the website: http://www.justiceservices.gov.mt/courtservices/JudicialSales/search.aspx The bidders taking part in the auction must present their identity card Rudolph Marmara' For the Registrar Civil Courts and Tribunals COURT NOTICE Registrar of Civil Courts and Tribunals informs that the Civil Court, First Hall ordered the following auction: time Place Items 2015 2/15 EUROLAND, TRIQ !A"- "ABBAR, FGURA Twenty Five (25) aircondition units of the make Gree. N.B. The said objects will be sold as described in the acts of file number 2/15. 2015 1/15 MZ SUPERMARKET, TRIQ IL- KOSTITUZZJONI, MOSTA Thirty two (32) aircondition units of the make Gree. 2015 GARAGE NUMBER TWELVE (12) AND GARAGE NUMBER THIRTEEN (13), METROPOLITAN BUILDINGS,TRIQ DUN FRANGISK CAMILLERI, HAMRUN Two (2) stainless steel display fridge counters, stainless steel fridge counter, units made of wood, wooden kiosk ice cream, overhead display wood shelf, and other various objects. 2015 8/15 GARAGE NUMBER TWELVE (12) AND GARAGE NUMBER THIRTEEN (13), METROPOLITAN BUILDINGS,TRIQ DUN FRANGISK CAMILLERI, HAMRUN Stainless steel display fridge counters, units made of wood, overhead display wood shelf, and other various objects. 2015 32/11 FIRST FLOOR , LAW COURTS, REPUBLIC STREET, VALLETTA One hundred (100) ordinary shares within the company S.C. & Company Limited C-6050 2015 12/14 KW 38, CORRADINO INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, PAOLA Cherry Picker coloured orange with the words RAMIRENT, Compressor Model 6125N 10A coloured blue with serial number F143/0956 of year 1996, Compressor Model 6125N 10A coloured blue with serial number F143/0957 of year 1996. 2015 9/15 HALL OF THESE COURTS OF JUSTICE, REPUBLIC STREET, VALLETTA Vessel MT 'LADY FERHAN', IMO number 9445411, registered in Turkey, property of Gemmar Gemi Isletmeleri AS, having a gross tonnage of 4347. 2015 33, TRIQ IL-!ELSIEN, !AL QORMI Vehicle of the make Mazda MX 5 green in colour with the registration BBJ 968. details can be obtained from the website: http://www.justiceservices.gov.mt/courtservices/JudicialSales/search.aspx taking part in the auction must present their identity card Rudolph Marmara' For the Registrar Civil Courts and Tribunals The Registrar of Civil Courts and Tribunals informs that the Civil Court, First Hall ordered the following sales by auction: COURT NOTICE The Registrar, Civil Courts and Tribunals notifies that the First Hall of the Civil Court ordered the sale by Judicial Auction of the following property to be held in the corridors of the Courts of Justice, Republic Street, Valletta. Date, Judicial Sale No. and Time Property 10th March, 2015 49/14 – 11.00am JGL Residential property and garage named 'Icona' in Triq il- Qattus, Birkirkara subject to a non revisible annual and perpetual ground rent , of nine Euros and thirty two cents (!9.32), valued at one hundred and fifty thousand Euros (!150,000). Garage named 'Gordon Motor Repair' in Triq in-Nassab, Qormi valued at ninety thousand Euros (!90,000) 26th March, 2015 58/10 – 10.30am EM 1. Seven out of twenty-four (7/24) undivided share of the tenement number fifty-five (55), in Triq i"- #onqor, Marsaskala, granted to third parties by title of lease, otherwise free and unencumbered, which share is valued at twelve thousand euro (!12,000). 2. Seven out of twenty-four (7/24) undivided share of the adjacent tenements number one hundred and forty-four (144), one hundred and forty-five (145) and one hundred and forty-six (146), in Triq San $u"epp, %al Tarxien, which property is free and unencumbered and which share is valued at eighty-five thousand euro (!85,000). Further details can be obtained from the website: http://www.justiceservices.gov.mt/courtservices/JudicialSales/sea rch.aspx The bidders taking part in the auction must present their identity card. Rudolph Marmara' For the Registrar of Civil Courts and Tribunals Rakhat Aliyev, found dead