Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/602829
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 18 NovEmbEr 2015 3 News Magistrate issues court order to treat girl Continues froM Page 1 Saturday's incident sparked political outrage, with Prime Minister Joseph Mus- cat announcing that harsher pen- alties will be applied for nightclub owners caught breaking the law. The Opposition has called for an independent inquiry into the in- cident to establish what caused it and why the emergency exit door hadn't functioned. Home affairs minister Carmelo Abela said that a fight had oc- curred at the nightclub which lasted a few minutes, after which pepper spray was allegedly used. This led to a state of panic as peo- ple started feeling a shortness of breath and bouncers started ush- ering them out. As the revellers tried to exit the club from the main entrance, a glass bannister collapsed under the pressure of people who were rushing out down the staircase. The injured, aged between 13 and 25 years, are understood to have suffered from bruises, lac- erations, fractures, as well as head injuries, while several also com- plained of breathing difficulties. The majority of the injured are understood to have suffered su- perficial cuts as a consequence of falling shards of glass. 13-year-old out of danger One of the victims is a 13-year- old girl who was being treated in the ITU but has now been trans- ferred to another ward. However, since the girl's mother could not be contacted in the immediate af- termath, doctors at Mater Dei had to seek consent from the court to treat the teenager for her injuries. Magistrate Doreen Clarke duly issued a court order which al- lowed the girl to receive all the necessary treatment. MaltaToday understands that upon her admit- tance to hospital the girl had to be treated for intoxication. Nine of the youths are still recov- ering from their injuries in hospi- tal, whilst the 15-year-old girl who was originally certified as being in critical condition has taken a turn for the better and has been trans- ferred to another ward. Second youth arrested Meanwhile, the police yester- day arrested a second youth, 17, in connection with the nightclub incident. An 18-year-old man was arrest- ed on Monday, over allegations that his use of pepper spray inside the crowded nightclub sparked the stampede. The two men are expected to be arraigned today and MaltaTo- day understands that at least one of the accused will be pleading guilty. PHOTOGRAPHY BY: Chris Mangion 74 people were hospitalised following the collapse of a glass bannister at a Paceville nightclub Church document questions effects of changes to Embryo Protection Act Martina Borg PrIMe Minister Joseph Muscat was presented with the Maltese Church's position document entitled Legislation regulating Assisted Human Procreation at parliament yesterday. University of Malta Dean of Theology emmanuel Agius said that the document, drawn up by 22 experts, including doctors and ethics and theology profes- sors among others, aimed to address the 2012 embryo Pro- tection Act and the importance of public dialogue prior to any changes being made to the doc- ument. "Will the changes safeguard the embryo as much as the cur- rent law does?" Agius asked, adding that the document had looked at the current act and its performance so far. He added that the team had also considered both the inter- ministerial discussions and the arguments presented by the eu- ropean court of human rights on the matter and said that this should not impinge on the local perspective. "The current method has pro- vided results comparable to in- ternational figures," he said. Agius said that under the pro- posed changes, the number of eggs that can be fertilised will increase to five, and limit the number of implantable embryos to two. He added that the law would also re-introduce embryo freezing, which was banned in 2013, barring some exceptional cases, under the embryo Pro- tection Act made law by the then Nationalist government. He remarked that the changes to the law would raise questions about what would happen to the number of embryos that aren't ultimately chosen for adoption. The Prime Minister stressed that the government firmly be- lieved it had a duty to help cou- ples create families. "Many of the issues raised are valid," he said referring to the document and stressing that the government was in no rush to come to a decision. "We will listen to various pro- posals and come up with a final decision," he said, adding that all parties involved in the discus- sion had the best intentions. Muscat said that the issue was not about the presence of em- bryo freezing, and that it had to be made clear that this practice was already possible, but what would happen if this practice became more widespread. "It is necessary to have a pub- lic dialogue on the matter to see how we can compromise," he said. Agius further explained that the document also looked at the idea of surrogacy and the com- mercialisation of the female body as well as the idea of sperm donation. "The donation of gametes and ova should not be introduced as it removes the concept of re- sponsibility and accountability for offspring, not to mention the identity issues it could cause in children," he said. "It is important to find a bal- ance between the services given to infertile couples and the rights of the unborn children," he said, adding that the document also made proposals about further research and better statistics in the sector. Health parliamentary secretary Chris Fearne and justice minis- ter Owen Bonnici were also at the discussion, which continued behind closed doors. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, justice minister Owen Bonnici and Health parliamentary secretary Chris Fearne presented with the Church of Malta's position document on assisted human procreation Continues froM Page 1 She be- came a vocal critic of Joseph Mus- cat's administration soon after stepping down from an assistant's role to her partner, the then health minister Godfrey Farrugia, which found little favour in the media. When Godfrey Farrugia, today government whip, announced in 2014 he would resign as minister, Marlene Farrugia opened up about her partner's ordeal as minister, saying that he was "repeatedly hu- miliated" by the Prime Minister. The Zurrieq MP lashed out at Muscat over the way decisions taken by Godfrey Farrugia would be overruled by Castille. She wrote in the press later that only a year earlier, Labour's "young, articulate leader succeeded in con- vincing the people that a new free- dom can be found in doing politics differently", citing his pledge for meritocracy and open dialogue. She promised her "ultimate loy- alty" to the Labour movement. "I will not rest until our slogan of Malta Taghna Lkoll becomes a re- ality," she said. Farrugia was also a vocal critic of the siting of the American Univer- sity of Malta at Zonqor Point, and as chair of the parliamentary en- vironment committee gave envi- ronmental NGOs unprecedented access to have their views heard on the AUM project. She also recently said she would not support the Labour adminis- tration's proposals to re-introduce embryo freezing, after this was banned by the Nationalist ad- ministration in 2013. She accused Labour of trying to "commoditise human life, citing some statistics, avoiding others. Putting forward egoistic, insensitive arguments… No to Labour's quest to legislate for embryo freezing." MPs resigning There have been three other cas- es in the past 25 years when sitting MPs resigned from their respec- tive parties. In 1989 Labour MP Wenzu Mintoff renounced the party whip and represented Alternat- tiva Demokratika, a new party he helped found after being expelled from the Labour Party. Another case was when in 1995 Labour MP Joe Brincat temporar- ily fell out with his party and sat in Parliament as an independent MP until the end of the legislature. Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando resigned in the summer of 2012 from the Nationalist Party, retaining his seat as an independ- ent MP. Farrugia to stay on as independent MP Farrugia's handwritten letter of resignation was handed to the Prime Minister yesterday evening