Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/478858
Continues from page 1 A case involving a Nigerian inmate The protest filed by Feilazoo's lawyers, Alfred Grech and Larry Formosa, draws the attention of the courts to the fact that Feilazoo is still be- ing repeatedly subjected to strip searches, all of which were point- less, as he was not allowed out of prison and neither did he have contact with persons from outside prison. No prohibited items have been discovered as a result of these searches, they claim. In his initial judicial protest, the Nigerian had alleged that jewel- lery and other valuables which had been in his possession when he was jailed were taken from him without a receipt being issued. The items have since gone missing. A second protest adds a laptop and two elec- tric fans, confiscated from his cell, to the items taken from him with- out good reason. The office of the Attorney Gen- eral has denied the claims, describ- ing them as unfounded in fact and at law. The reply, signed by lawyer Abigail Caruana, reminded Feila- zoo that upon his admission to Corradino Correctional Facility, a list of his belongings had been drawn up in his presence. Feilazoo's legal team has ex- plained to this newspaper that the system works in such a way that a receipt is only given with regard to items stored in the office of a cer- tain Major Vincent Vassallo. Items stored in the lockers are not ac- counted for. During hearings, it emerged that Major Vassallo has since been sus- pended. It is not known whether this suspension is in any way con- nected to the theft of foreign in- mates' belongings, but sources close to the case claim that the practice is widespread. The inmate is alleging that upon his arrival in prison, the officials re- moved the jewellery from his hand luggage, telling him that they could not be stored with the rest of his belongings. He claims that he was then taken to Maj. Vassallo's office where he was made to remove the jewellery, being given a receipt for the items. However, some years later, he re- quested some items from the lug- gage, but when he was taken to the lockers, he realised that the bag's seal had been broken and some items were missing. It was at this point that he found out that only the jewellery which had been in Maj. Vassallo's custody was still ac- counted for, the other items having disappeared. Feilazoo's lawyer claims that no internal report had been made and, alarmingly, no police report had been filed. He said that the direc- tor of prisons at the time, Abraham Zammit, had led Feilazoo to be- lieve that he was investigating the matter and held him off with this tactic for a number of months, be- fore stepping down. During his testimony, it emerged that the director had only called Maj. Vassallo's office and taken Vassallo's word as fact, failing to pursue the matter further. Follow- ing Zammit's resignation, Feila- zoo attempted to pursue the mat- ter once again, only to be labelled a trouble-maker and mistreated, leading to the current proceed- ings. Feilazoo said that before he had complained about the food, he had been studying accountancy and working on a factory line produc- ing Playmobil toys. After he had criticised the prison diet, he said, he had been transferred to another division of the prison for 100 days. The division had fewer facilities than the one in which he was origi- nally detained and as a result, he could neither continue his studies nor work. GIoVANNI Kessler, director general of oLAF, the European anti-fraud agency, is expected to take the wit- ness stand in the case against former Sliema councillor Silvio Zammit, who is accused of bribery in the Dal- ligate affair. Kessler, accompanied by his team, is expected in Malta on Tuesday. MaltaToday is informed that Kes- sler will be aided by Maltese lawyer Tonio Azzopardi. MaltaToday could not reach Azzopardi for a comment. Kessler has so far ignored a sum- mons to testify in a court of law by videoconference. Zammit is pleading not guilty to having sought a €60 million bribe from Swedish company Swedish Match and the European smokeless tobacco lobby ESToC. He is alleged to have requested the bribe to in- fluence former European Commis- sioner John Dalli to lift an EU retail ban on snus, a form of smokeless tobacco. Kessler, 56, took centre-stage in the Dalligate affair as the chief of oLAF, who made his case – as far as he pos- sibly could given that the matter is now under the Attorney General's review – that Dalli was aware that Silvio Zammit was using his name to extract some sort of bribe. Last summer, the oLAF chief turned down an invitation to testify in the Privileges Committee over a breach of privilege complaint raised by the Prime Minister. In his letter, Kessler wrote that Dalli had told someone to convey to him information the Police Commis- sioner could have him arrested if he came to Malta. Dalli would later clarify that he had told journalists in Brussels on 19 June that the oLAF chief "might be in trouble" over legal and procedural infringements. He insisted that he wanted to confront Kessler in Malta during the privileges committee hearing, and has published a letter he sent to the Speaker of the House on the matter itself. Kessler said Zammit made repeat- ed requests for the €60 million bribe to reverse a snus ban in the Tobacco Products Directive (he did not spell this out, but the broad outline was shaped by the media and its rev- elations on the matter) even though John Dalli says this was "unthink- able, political suicide". maltatoday, Sunday, 15 March 2015 News St Dominic's Church St Paul's Church Ta' Ġieżu Church St Mark's Church Mdina Cathedral Solemn Installation Ceremony of Archbishop Mgr Charles J. Scicluna Solemn Installation Ceremony of Archbishop Mgr Charles J. Scicluna Solemn Installation Ceremony of Archbishop Mgr Charles J. Scicluna On Saturday 21 st March from 9:00AM till 12:30PM 8:30AM - Leaves from Ħal Lija Parish Church 8:45AM - Sanctuary of Our Lady of Good Health 9.00AM - St Dominic's Church 9.30AM - St Paul's Church 9.50AM - Ta' Ġieżu Church 10.15AM - St Mark's Church 10. 10.45AM - Mdina Cathedral 11.00AM - Pontifical Mass You are invited to greet the new Archbishop in Rabat and Mdina, and to celebrate this historic day for the Church and for Malta. nigerian subjected to repeated strip searches OLAF chief Giovanni Kessler set to testify in Zammit bribery case OLAF chief Giovanni Kessler