Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/720024
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 AUGUST 2016 10 News Warders' reinstatement was PSC's decision, home affairs minister says Violent assault on Dutch prisoner MATTHEW AGIUS THE return to undisclosed duties of four prison warders who had been jailed in 2013 for a brutal assault on Dutch inmate Perry Ingomar Toornstra was taken by the Public Service Commission, to which authority in disciplinary matters is delegated, and not to the Ministry for Home Affairs and National Security. Toornstra had suffered a broken arm and broken ribs in a beating at the hands of four prison warders in August 2008 while he was being escorted to Corradino Correc- tional Facility at the end of a period of pris- on leave. Toornstra was serving a 15-year jail term for drug trafficking – to which a further nine months were added for an es- cape bid. The un-handcuffed Dutchman had man- aged to escape from a police car in Paola, having reached through his passenger win- dow, which had been open because the car was not equipped with air conditioning, and opened the door from the outside. His subsequent beating was captured on CCTV. Warders Francis Debono and Francis Meli were subsequently sentenced to five years and three months in jail, while their colleagues Daniel Cuschieri and George Falzon had been sentenced to five years im- prisonment for the beating. In its decision in the case against the warders, the court of first instance, presid- ed by Magistrate Marseann Farrugia, had ruled that the warders had acted "overzeal- ously" while arresting Toornstra. In a separate case, filed in 2010, the Dutchman had been charged with attack- ing the prison warders, only to be acquit- ted, with the presiding magistrate ruling that the warders' account of events was not credible. The warders had filed an appeal 10 days after their sentence was handed down in December 2013. Lawyers for the men ar- gued that forensic pathologist Mario Scerri had disregarded the warders' version of events in his report, which described the injuries as being compatible with a beating and not violent resistance to arrest. The expert's report had not been impar- tial and was only based on a superficial ex- amination of the injuries. The conclusions drawn by the expert were outside his remit, it was argued. Last February, the Court of Appeal, pre- sided by Mr Justice Antonio Mizzi, had up- held the defence's arguments. It held that the men's treatment of Toornstra could not be construed as torture and their allowing of Toornstra to open the rear window of the police car, could not be considered a "grievous imprudence". The court reduced the warders' sentence from five years and three months in jail to six months in prison, suspended for two years. Last week, it was reported that the men had resumed employment, the ministry ex- plaining that as a result of the appeal the four men's suspensions had been lifted and had been re-employed at the correctional facility. Their half-salary, which had been with- held during their suspension, was forfeited, the ministry had said. Replying to questions sent by MaltaToday earlier this week, the Ministry for Home Affairs and National Security pointed out that the men were "public officers whose employment is regulated by the Public Ser- vice Commission. The Ministry for Home Affairs and National Security, as well as the CCF Management, have to follow decisions taken by the Public Services Commission regarding disciplinary proceedings involv- ing public officers." The Public Service Commission (Dis- ciplinary Procedure) Regulations, 1999 delegates disciplinary powers to Heads of Department, a measure intended to expe- dite the disciplinary process and reinforce accountability. The ministry was coy in reply to questions about what duties the men would be carry- ing out, in light of their past actions. "The persons in question are Correctional Offic- ers and they are assigned duties compatible with their grade according to the exigencies of service," was the official reply. Prisons chief's libel case against MaltaToday dismissed In June this year, MaltaToday editor Mat- thew Vella and journalist Raphael Vassallo were acquitted of criminal libel in a case filed by the former prisons chief Abraham Zammit and three of the prison ward- ers over a 2011 article reporting Perry In- gomar Toornstra's claims of being beaten by the prison warders and the injuries he sustained after his unsuccessful escape at- tempt. Magistrate Francesco Depasquale, in ac- quitting the two MaltaToday journalists, said that as a public servant, Zammit was "subject to wider limits of acceptable criti- cism than a private individual" and that the article concerns the actions of his role as a prisons chief. MaltaToday had published a letter the inmate had sent to then home affairs min- ister Carm Mifsud Bonnici outlining his injury claims and complaining about the conditions at Corradino Correctional Fa- cility. In the letter, Toornstra had claimed that warders Raymond Theuma, Carmelo Bonnici and James Abela had witnessed the attack on him and suggested that they had lied under oath in court to cover up for their colleagues. magius@mediatoday.com.mt Perry Ingomar Toornstra, seen here in a social media photo he uploaded, is no longer incarcerated Renewable energy plans 'could pave way for Malta's first solar farm' TIM DIACONO THE government's plans to invest €140 million to support renewable energy operators will pave the way for the development of solar farms, the Malta Developers' Association has said. The European Commission on Friday found that Malta's plans to support power generation from renewable sources are in line with EU state aid rules. Malta plans to grant state aid to photovoltaic energy operators in the form of a premium payment on top of the market price. The scheme – which will run until 2020 – will also be extended to onshore wind farms if an eligible site is approved within the next four years. Deputy prime minister Louis Grech and former energy minis- ter Konrad Mizzi have said that the plans will allow Malta to reach its ambitious EU2020 target, for renewable energy to constitute 10% of the country's total elec- tricity produced by 2020. By the end of 2014, only 4% of electricity production was from renewable sources. The Malta Developers' Associa- tion has said that the scheme will allow for the development of solar farms – photovoltaic systems larg- er than 1MW. It added that it had proposed such a system to various government entities, including minister Konrad Mizzi – who was removed as energy minister due to his involvement in the Panama Papers scandal but who has main- tained oversight over various en- ergy projects. The association said that devel- opers in the alternative energy sec- tor will do their utmost to ensure that the scheme will be a success, for the benefit of the general public and in the interest of the alterna- tive energy sector. "While the MDA remains com- mitted to continuing to work with the government, the authorities and the service providers of alter- native energy, so that the produc- tion sector of clean energy will continue to grow consistently, even on a commercial scale, it urg- es the authorities to lessen unnec- essary bureaucracy in the adminis- trative process needed to achieve the goal of these projects so that they can be implemented as soon as possible," it said in a statement. "We are satisfied that we have ob- tained the trust of all the members of this sector in a short period of time and have managed to achieve success in this field to achieve one of its primary aims, that develop- ment in our country will be truly sustainable.