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maltatoday, TUESDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2015 2 MATTHEW AGIUS A homicide detective has told a mag- istrate that the man accused of bru- tally murdering a mother of seven had admitted to the murder during questioning. Inspector Keith Arnaud was tes- tifying before magistrate Claire- Louise Stafrace in the compilation of evidence against 33-year-old Djibril Ganiou from Togo. Ganiou is accused of the murder of his former partner, Caroline Magri, 41, in Ta' Giorni late last month. Arnaud testified that officers call- ing at the scene of the murder had found the body of the deceased in her bedroom, wearing only her under- wear. The victim's 19 year old daugh- ter and Magri's sister's husband had been at the scene when he arrived. The body had been discovered by Magri's ex-partner, Moses Bafoe, who was still living with her at the time of the murder. He had last seen Magri the night before her death, after 9pm, and she had not returned home by 6:30am the next day, when Bafoe had left for work. Upon his return at 4:30pm, he made the grisly discovery and had called her daughter before going to file a po- lice report, the court was told. Bafoe had explained to the police that he had been aware that Magri had been in a relationship with the accused, but had continued to live with her. Sometimes the accused would threaten to kill her, saying he had no problem with spending the rest of his life in prison. Family mem- bers had told the police of the pair's troublesome relationship and that Ganiou had been "prepared to kill her and himself." The inspector was told that on one occasion, Ganiou had attacked Ma- gri, dragging along the ground her by the hair after discovering the wom- an's relationship with Bafoe. Although criminal proceedings had been instituted against him, these had been stymied when Magri had withdrawn her criminal com- plaint. After being arrested, Ganiou had initially told the police that the vic- tim, who had been seeing several men concurrently, had threatened to kill herself out of love for the accused. He explained that he had ended up living with her after he and Magri had been involved in a fight with his two flatmates Mohammed Djalou and Mamadou Diallo in Floriana and he had ended up with nowhere to stay. Magri's sister's husband had allowed him to use a flat in Blanche Huber Street in Sliema. The accused was observed to have two fresh cuts on his neck at the time of his arrest, the Inspector said. Two mobile phones had been found in his possession, one of which was Magri's. Ganiou told the police that he had arrived in Malta from Italy in 2013 and had known Magri for four years. Although he used to live with her, he had moved to Floriana after she started her relationship with Bafoe. She had also told him that she was in a relationship with a man from Syria. On the day of the incident, at 5:30am, Magri had called his phone while he had been asleep at home. He said he hadn't answered, but had looked out of the balcony and saw Magri's BMW. Later that day, at 8 or 9am, she had told him that she loved him and that she was going to kill herself, mentioning the word "dan- ger" before hanging up. He said he had cycled over to her house and dis- covered her body. He claimed to have found her life- less body in a pool of blood on her bed, face up. A mobile phone was be- side her. He had gone to sign his bail book at St Julian's but had not told the police about it because he was afraid. Of the crime scene, Inspector Ar- naud said that a large knife wound was visible on the victim's neck and that there had been a lot of blood on the bed. The murder weapon was not immediately found. For nearly the entirety of this morn- ing's sitting, Ganiou sat in the dock, looking down, his head practically between his knees and arms folded. Arnaud explained how, during questioning, the accused had admit- ted to threatening the woman during an argument, but had later said he wanted to "tell the truth". Ganiou told inspectors that Magri had called him threatening to kill herself because of him, and that he had gone to her flat where an argu- ment ensued. Here, the interrogation had to be suspended after Ganiou asked the police to kill him, saying he wanted to die and hitting himself with a chair. He was transferred to Mount Carmel Hospital for two days as a result. The accused's blood-stained jeans were found in Sliema and blood was also found at the bottom of his shoes. The court was told that DNA analy- sis had confirmed the blood to be Magri's. Questioned after his stay at the mental hospital, the accused had confessed to everything. He said that he had communicated with Magri on the day of the murder and that he had arrived home before her. A discus- sion about their relationship turned into a heated argument, and Ganiou eventually grabbed a kitchen knife and demanded to know whether she loved him or not. The argument continued to inten- sify the inspector said, and Ganiou eventually stabbed Magri. He could not recall how many times or where he had stabbed her, nor what he had subsequently done to the murder weapon, Arnaud told the court. However, he did remem- ber opening the luggage boot of the BMW and contemplating "driv- ing somewhere and jumping" to his death. He had wounded himself in the neck with the same knife that he had allegedly used to killed Magri. Defence lawyer Giannella De Mar- co did not contest that there were prima facie grounds for the accused to be indicted. The court decreed that there was sufficient evidence to place the accused under indictment. Lawyers Marion Camilleri and Yanika Vidal appeared on behalf of the family of the victim. The compilation of evidence con- tinues in November. JEANELLE MIFSUD THE morning-after pill will be made available over-the-counter and will not require a doctor's pre- scription, Malta Medicines Author- ity chief Anthony Serracino Inglott has said. "We had asked that EllaOne not be imported until a discussion on the topic had taken place in order to be prudent. Now we believe that the discussion is over," Serracino In- glott told MaltaToday. "Levonorgestrel will fall under ar- ticle 126(a) which states that in the absence of a marketing authorisa- tion for a medicinal product, the licensing authority may authorise the product in Malta, provided that it is authorised in another EU/EEA member state," he added. Seraccino Inglott could not com- mit, however, to a timeframe when emergency contraception will be available in pharmacies, putting it down to marketing authorisation holders. In comments to the media, Ser- ranicino Inglott explained that the Medicines Authority looked at all the recommendations made by the parliamentary committee but de- cided that to ensure that there is efficacy, the contraceptive will be made available over-the-counter. "The authority has always based its decisions on three things; qual- ity, safety of patients and efficacy. By asking patients to go to doctors to get their hands on the contracep- tive, you are compromising effica- cy," he said. Members of parliament sitting on the social affairs, health and family committees recommended to the House of Representatives that the emergency contraceptive pill could only be dispensed against a doctor's prescription, as was recommended also by the Medical Council of Mal- ta. The Medical Association of Malta came forward on Friday in support of this On Sunday, 300 protestors took to the streets in Valletta over the issue. In comments to MaltaTo- day Mel McElhatton, President of Gender Equality Malta, the NGO which organised the protest, argued that requiring a prescription would defeat the purpose of an emergency contraception, adding that in such a situation, a woman would have to take leave from a work to get a pre- scription from work. McElhatton insisted that it is im- perative that the morning after pill be made available over-the-counter without fear or prejudice. Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil issued a statement welcom- ing the conclusion reached by the Medicines Authority and praised the NGOs that worked to make it possible. Last Thursday, Busuttil supported the parliamentary committee's rec- ommendation that the morning- after pill should only be available by prescription. Today, Busuttil noted that the decision belongs to the Medicines Authority. "I have already noted that after the parliamentary committee achieved consensus on the fact that the MAP should be available, the decision on whether its available over the coun- ter lies with the Medicines Author- ity," the statement said. News maltatoday, TUESDAY, 18 OCTOBER 2016 Morning-after pill to be sold over-the-counter Suspect admitted to killing Caroline Magri under police interrogation Police inspector tells court that Djibril Ganiou admitted stabbing his former partner Caroline Magri to death following a heated argument about their relationship status Ta' Giorni murder Protestors on Sunday demonstrated against MPs' proposal for a prescription for the MAP. The Medicines Authority has now confirmed it can be sold over-the-counter Djibril Ganiou (centre) photographed with police officers after being apprehended