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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 17 FEbruArY 2016 3 News Court upholds Prime Minister's request for Gaffarena injunction The request for an injunction was filed by Joseph Muscat, in his capacity as a member of parliament, and the Attorney General Mat thew aGius A court has granted a warrant of prohibitory injunction against businessman Mark Gaffarena, which had been requested by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and the Attorney General. The court upheld the request filed by Muscat, in his capacity as a member of parliament. Mr Justice Joseph R. Micallef, presiding in the First Hall of the Civil Court, handed down his de- cision on the application which had been filed by Muscat in his capacity as a member of parlia- ment, together with the Attor- ney General, prohibiting Mark and Josielle Gaffarena from transferring, under any title, the properties they had received as a result of the expropriation of 36, Old Mint Street, Valletta. On 28 January last year, the Commissioner of Lands had transferred four properties to Gaffarena by title of exchange. These were a property in Sliema, valued at €65,000, a portion of land in the limits of Siggiewi, valued at €165,800, a parcel of land in the limits of Qormi worth €192,810 and a parcel of land at Bahar ic-Caghaq, estimated to be worth €260,000. These properties, together with €138,890, were given to Gaffarena as compensation for the expropriation of one-quarter of a house in Old Mint Street, Valletta. Later that year, in April, the Commissioner of Lands had repeated the process, grant- ing Gaffarena a €70,000 parcel of land at Bahar ic-Caghaq and two plots of land outside Zeb- bug, worth €375,000, together with the sum of €377,500 for the expropriation of another quar- ter share of the same Old Mint Street property. The prime minister and the at- torney general last month filed a lawsuit against the Gaffarenas, requesting the rescission of the two deeds following a report is- sued by the National Audit Of- fice. The court had been requested to prohibit the Gaffarenas from selling, giving away or transfer- ring to third parties any of the properties they had received. In yesterday's judgement the court ruled that the elements re- quired by law for the issue of the warrant of prohibitory injunc- tion were present and granted the request, issuing the warrant. Government reacts In a media statement, the gov- ernment welcomed the court's decision, saying it was the first step in protecting the interests of the people. In its decree, the court reject- ed the objection that the prime minister could not open the case, raised by the defendants, saying that the prime minister is con- sidered a member of parliament automatically and by virtue of the Constitution. "This is the same objection raised by the Opposition be- fore the proceedings began and the Opposition's assertions that the case was made to be lost are similarly untrue," the statement said. "The prime minister will con- tinue the reform of the Lands Department as well as the fight against corruption." In a reaction, the Nationalist Party said Muscat was "living a lie" and, irrespective of what the government says, "the NAO re- port confirms the collusion that existed between the Office of the Prime Minister and Gaffarena". The Labour Party pointed out that the court's decision proved that the opposition had been wrong in arguing that Muscat could not file the court case. It also said that the decision confirmed that any MP, includ- ing opposition leader Simon Bu- suttil and shadow justice minis- ter Jason Azzopardi, could have sought legal action. "It is also worth noting that the line of defence brought by Gaffarena was along the lines of arguments raised by the opposi- tion," Labour added. Mark Gaffarena