Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/780138
MATTHEW VELLA THE minister for the economy, Chris Cardona, has announced he will take legal steps against Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia, over al- legations she posted on Monday night that he had been witnessed inside a German brothel, out- side Essen, while on government business. Caruana Galizia's post, up- loaded on Monday at 11:45pm, claimed that a source had told her Cardona was witnessed emerging from a sauna-shower complaining that the water was cold. Cardona, who is on official government business in Ger- many, issued a categorical de- nial yesterday morning and announced he would take legal steps yesterday at 5:45pm. Cardona is also Labour's depu- ty leader for party affairs. The unverified allegations were enough for the Nationalist Party to call on both the Prime Minister and Cardona to prove that he did not attend the broth- el whilst in Essen on govern- ment business. Speaking in parliament yester- day evening opposition leader Simon Busuttil said Malta is in "a state of shock and disgust" af- ter allegations emerged of Car- dona at a German brothel. "I don't think he went there to get some change, did he?" Bu- suttil asked in parliament. "A minister would be placing him- self to blackmail if there hap- pened to be CCTV footage of the alleged visit to the brothel." Busuttil went on to add that no one should expect the Prime Minister to take any action – even in the case of such disgust- ing and deplorable behaviour – because he had lost any moral authority. In a tweet sent following Bu- suttil's speech, Cardona vehe- mently denied the allegations and challenged the PN leader to "prove your lies and repeat them out of Parliament." Earlier, PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami called on Muscat and Cardona to prove that he did not visit the brothel whilst in Essen on government business. "It is a very serious allegation. It is unacceptable for a govern- ment minister, during an official visit and even if he isn't on gov- ernment business, to be present in what is effectively a brothel," Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami told reporters during a press conference announcing a series of PN billboards taking to task Joseph Muscat over the Panama Papers. WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION €1.00 Newspaper post SEE EDITORIAL ON PAGE 9 PAGE 9 • Editorial WEDNESDAY • 1 FEBRUARY 2017 • ISSUE 507 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY PAGE 5 Afriqiyah Airways cannot operate flights to Malta JURGEN BALZAN REPORTS that Afriqiyah Air- ways will be f lying to Malta are incorrect, MaltaToday has learnt, as the airline remains on the EU's blacklist while the announced weekly f lights from Misrata and Labraq will be operated by anoth- er company, Medavia. All Libyan carriers are banned from f lying to the European Un- ion under the bloc's aviation safety blacklist. No Libyan carrier is al- lowed to f ly into the EU on com- mercial f lights and some countries also have restrictions on EU carri- ers travelling out of Libya. A number of Libyan news agen- cies reported that Afriqiyah Air- ways plans to start regular charter f lights to Malta from Misrata and Labraq airports as of next week. Afriqiyah Airways became a household name locally follow- ing the botched hijack two days before Christmas Day when two men loyal to the late Libyan dicta- tor Muammar Gaddafi, carrying fake weapons, diverted an internal f light to Malta. The announcement elicited dis- belief in the industry with many asking whether it was safe to allow the airline to f ly to Malta. Minister to take legal steps over brothel allegations Media houses unite in migrants' appeal TODAY, the Times of Malta, The Malta Independent and MaltaToday, join forces to call on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to review Malta's arbitrary system of 'temporary humanitarian pro- tection' (THP) and to regularise the position of migrants who are facing deportation. In a joint editorial, the three newspapers are calling on the government to release the people who have been detained for over two months and reverse the deci- sion to deport them. Some 1,000 people now face deportation and most of them have lived and worked in Malta for years – some for as long as 18 years – and the majority are from West African countries, among them are a number of families, including many with children born here in Malta. Through this action, the gov- ernment has removed the ability of these people to lead a normal life. The populist decision to with- draw THPN has now plunged these families into difficulties that include obtaining medica- tion, inability to cash cheques, and problems maintaining bank accounts. Concern has also been expressed by Maltese employ- ers, wondering how this decision will impact their ability to retain these employees. The newspapers are calling on the government to clearly regu- late the situation of migrants awaiting return and guarantee access to basic rights and the pos- sibility to live with dignity. The government policy is de- signed to break people into sub- mission or destitution, pushing people to live in a state of limbo, in breach of their human rights. The newspapers are calling on the government to clearly define the THP criteria and to grant these beneficiaries the same rights as those who are benefi- ciaries of subsidiary protection. PAGE 6 Economy Minister Chris Cardona has denied visiting a brothel in Germany