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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 8 JULY 2015 3 News Crowds gather for Isle of MTV at the Granaries Asset freeze on Debono to stay until witnesses are heard MATTHEW VELLA THE defence counsel for civil servant Anthony Debono, hus- band of former Gozo minister Giovanna Debono, has asked a court to relieve his client of an as- set freeze which he said was "crip- pling" Debono. Debono is facing 13 charges, amongst them misappropriation of public funds, in his alleged role in devising a works-for-votes system to carry out private works for constituents while he ran the Construction Maintenance Unit inside the Gozo ministry. The main accuser, Joseph Cauchi, has been granted protec- tion under the Whistleblower Act to explain how Debono would ask him to carry out works and then issue false invoices to the CMU. Magistrate Neville Camilleri said the asset freeze on Debono would stay in place until further witnesses will be heard. Debono is under a bill of indict- ment for the charges related to some €50,000 in works carried out in some 23 different locations between 2004 and the 2013 elec- tion. Debono's defence lawyer Joe Giglio asked the court to recon- sider the asset freeze. Giglio said an asset freeze was primarily required at law to claim proceeds from crime, or on any other property that is unrelated to the crime when those proceeds have been hidden. "But none of the evidence pre- sented by the prosecution shows that Debono profited from the works carried out. We don't feel that this asset freeze should stay in place – this interim order is still in force… I hope that the prosecu- tion is not demanding that the as- set freeze stays in place because someone is stating that they have not yet been paid for the works they carried out. God forbid that Article 23 on the freezing of assets is used to protect the interests of Joe Cauchi, who is the author of these crimes… for Debono here is an accomplice. I hope the court can address this point." Various police officers from the Economic Crimes Unit today confirmed evidence presented in court by prosecuting officer In- spector Ian Abdilla. Superintendent Paul Vassallo, Inspector Yvonne Farrugia, police constables Silvio Zammit, Mar- celle Mifsud, Robert Zammit, and Sergeant Shaun Friggieri told the court that between March and April they were involved in secur- ing various offices in the Gozo ministry, the CMU offices known as il-Kajselli in Xewkija, and the Works Department. They also told the court that Joseph Cauchi accompanied po- lice to each different location, pointing out where works had been carried out; and confirmed that 23 remittance advices Cauchi provided for the works com- missioned by Debono, had been reconciled with commitment sheets from the CMU offices. The evidence included hand-written notes by Debono to Cauchi on the works being commissioned. In his counter-examination of several police witnesses, Giglio read out an entire list of ministry officials and employees, asking WPC Marcelle Mifsud specifical- ly, whether any of the witnesses or ministry officials they had spo- ken to had made any allegations against Debono. She replied that none of them made any such al- legations. Several of the police officers ex- amined by Giglio told the court they could not confirm Cauchi as the source of allegations against Debono, or that they were aware that Cauchi was to benefit from protection under the Whistle- blower Act. PC Zammit also confirmed un- der counter-examination that Debono had been under arrest for almost 48 hours before his inter- rogation, where he exercised his right to stay silent. Zammit con- firmed that Debono told police that he was "being politically in- strumentalised" and exercised his right to stay silent. HAVING first debuted nine years ago, this year's edition of the Isle of MTV concert once again took place at the Granaries in Flori- ana, headlined by chart-topping US singer Jason Derulo. Accompanying Derulo last night were fellow American performers Tori Kelly and Echo- smith, as well as Jamaican-born singer OMI (who replaced UK singer Jess Glynne after she had to drop out for health reasons) and 19-year-old Dutch DJ Mar- tin Garrix. During a press conference ahead of the show last night, the upbeat and charismatic Derulo joked about not being given a room with a sea view at the hotel, and also expounded on his taste in women. Responding to an international journalist Derulo said that his fa- vourite outfit for a woman is the "little black dress". "There's something really special about… it's simple, I don't know, it just does it for me. Damn, I got all deep there, I should write a song about it," Derulo joked, adding that the qualities he looked for in women are confidence, "and a woman who makes me laugh". Meanwhile, in comments to MaltaToday, singer OMI de- scribed the international milieu of Jamaican music, which con- tinues to inform his eclectic ap- proach. He added that while he's grateful for the success of his hit single 'Cheerleader', he's also keen to be remembered as a sing- er in his own right, independent of the chart-topping love song, and is currently hard at work on his debut album. A collaboration between MTV and the Malta Tourism Author- ity, Isle of MTV Malta will be filmed and edited into a 60- minute special that will broad- cast across 20 MTV channels throughout Europe on 1 August. On Monday, Tourism Min- ister Edward Zammit Lewis announced that the date for next year's Isle of MTV concert – which will serve as the 10th anniversary edition of the free festival – will be held on 28 June 2016. Quoting NSO statistics, Zammit Lewis said the festival was crucial in ensuring the high levels of tourism and expendi- ture the country was currently experiencing. Jason Derulo headlines this year's edition of the Isle of MTV Festival, just one year shy of its tenth anniversary Jason Derulo Crowds gather early for yesterday's Isle of MTV concert at the Granaries, Floriana PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD