Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/731331
7 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2016 News Charles 'Pips' Muscat claims breach of fair trial in drugs trafficking case MATTHEW AGIUS A convicted murderer await- ing trial for drug trafficking, has claimed that his right to a fair trial was breached by the lack of legal assistance during the early stages of proceedings against him. Earlier this week, Charles Muscat, known as 'il-Pips', challenged the proceedings against him on Con- stitutional grounds. Muscat had, along with 18 oth- ers, been charged with conspiring to traffic drugs. At the end of the compilation of evidence against him, his case was scheduled for trial. Muscat gained notoriety during the 1990s, eventually being sen- tenced to 25 years imprisonment in 1999 for a cocaine-fuelled dou- ble homicide. After a five-day co- caine binge at his Mosta home in September 1994, Muscat shot dead drug dealer Leli Sultana, 'it-Tazz', thinking he had been sent to kill him. As he left the house, he threat- ened a group of bystanders warning them not to report him and ended up shooting one of them, Alfred Grima. He was subsequently granted early release in 2011 for good be- haviour. In the drug trafficking proceed- ings, the Attorney General had decided that 11 of the 19 accused were only to face a magistrate – and therefore a much lighter pos- sible sentence – while the other eight, Muscat among them, were put down for a trial by jury. On 5 February 2014, Muscat filed a Constitutional application, claim- ing his right to a fair trial in the drug trafficking case had been breached, but this application was dismissed as his trial had not yet started. The latest application, filed by lawyers Franco Debono, Amadeus Cachia and Veronique Dalli, at- tacks the upcoming trial from a different angle, arguing that he had not been assisted by a lawyer dur- ing his interrogation. This and the absence of a fitting remedy for this absence in local law, breached his fundamental human rights. The application refers to and quotes at length from judgements including the damning judgment against Malta by the European Court of Human Rights in Mario Borg vs Malta, which had found a violation of fundamental human rights where an accused person had been convicted on the strength of a statement he released during inter- rogation, while not being assisted by a lawyer. The European Court itself had ex- pressed the opinion that in similar circumstances, "it is only through a retrial that a breach of fundamen- tal human rights can be remedied," the application reads. "Despite the judgement by the European Courts... to this day he has not been afforded an effective remedy by the national courts and no procedure that he can use to obtain a remedy exists in Maltese law." Vitals contracts to be published 'in weeks' MATTHEW AGIUS THE government has reiterated a promise to publish its contracts with Vitals Global Healthcare "in the coming weeks" in a reply filed yesterday to a judicial pro- test tabled by Union Haddiema Maghqudin and the Medical As- sociation of Malta following Vi- tals Global Healthcare's call for job applications. In a court reply, the Attorney General, on behalf of the govern- ment, said it was "rebutting all of the allegations and pretensions as they are unfounded in fact and at law." The concession for the opera- tion of the hospitals had been is- sued after a public call. "The chosen public-private partnership model with Vitals Global Healthcare will allow the investment of around €200 mil- lion in this sector" through in- vestment in facilities, equipment and human resources. The UHM, on behalf of Allied Health Professionals, and the MAM, are urging Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, Health Minis- ter Chris Fearne, OPM Minister Konrad Mizzi – who was previ- ously responsible for health – and the Directorate for Health Care Services Standards to publish the agreement between the govern- ment and Vitals Global Health- care. The agreement covers the oper- ation of Karin Grech Rehabilita- tion Hospital, St Luke's Hospital and the Gozo General Hospital. The UHM and MAM are claim- ing that the government's refusal to publish was seriously hinder- ing the conclusion of negotiations and any eventual agreements. The government said it had declared that it would be open- ing up the contracts mentioned to public scrutiny in the coming weeks. Over the past months the min- istries involved had guaranteed that the rights of the public sector workers at the hospitals would not be affected and had invited all health-worker unions to discus- sions about the transition to the new operators. But "for reasons known only to them, the unions [UHM and MAM] suddenly cut off all com- munications with the govern- ment and refused to conclude the agreement" they had helped forge, the government said, pointing out that it had signed agreements with the MUMN and the GWU. The collective agreement cur- rently in force specifically pro- vides for PPPs, because contrary to what is being said, all the un- ions had already agreed with the government on the right to enter into PPPs "and there is nothing preventing the government from implementing the development and management of the PPP with Vitals Global Healthcare." BLUESTONE SPECIAL SITUATION 4 LIMITED (British Tortola) Bluestone Investments Malta Bluestone Investments Malta (70%) Pivot Holdings (30%) Vitals Global Healthcare Vitals Global Healthcare Management Ltd Vitals Global Healthcare Assets Ltd Crossrange Holdings Gozo International Medicare Ltd Gozo Global Healthcare Ltd OWNS Shaukat Ali Chaudry is a 33% owner of Pivot, and all the following subsidiaries include directors who have a 33% stake in Pivot Holdings December 2014 May 2015 May 2015 May 2015 December 2014 December 2014 December 2014 Ownership of Malta's healthcare PPP Charles Muscat (1994)