Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/792945
3 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 1 MARCH 2017 News policeman questioned in Marsa murder probe searching for the victim, when he had already been spotted in the area just a few hours before. Investigators believe that Farrugia may not have been killed on the spot where he was found, and the inspector did not exclude the possibility that Farrugia could have been hit by the bullet whilst sitting in the backseat of the car. The victim's car windows were open and the keys were in the ignition when the po- lice found it, Arnaud said. Far- rugia's mobile and wallet were not there. Defence law yer Giannella de Marco cross-examined inspec- tor Arnaud, who confirmed that sackcloth had been found in Farrugia's rented garage. Re- plying to questions by the de- fence, the inspector also said that he had been told that the material was also used by fire- works enthusiasts in the setting off of fireworks. The other suspects, who the inspector said had been in the car searching for the deceased, had not been tested for gunshot residue. "At the time we didn't have an indication that any of them had discharged a firearm." Law yer Franco Debono also cross-examined Arnaud. The jerry can, which was found and recovered by forensic investi- gators, had no cap, suggested the law yer. The inspector con- curred. "The one found in the field suggested by the accused, had no cap, but a matching cap was found in the back seat of the Toyota Starlet," where the body was found. No blood spatter was found any where, he said. "The only blood found was on the car's rear door handle." Deniro Magri thought someone was planning a bomb attack Jason Azzopardi, appear- ing parte civile for the victim, asked whether any exit wound had been observed on the vic- tim. The inspector said it had not. Azzopardi asked what was happening outside accused 's door before he allegedly fired. The accused had told the po- lice that there were people out- side his front door. "[Magri] said he saw one of them car- rying something in his arms like a baby. He said he thought they were going to set fire to his door or even plant a bomb." The accused told police that he had retrieved a firearm from an upper f loor, called out from the window and fired at the fig- ures outside. Azzopardi pointed out that no petrol had been found at that point. "He had said that he had cho- sen to shoot first... instead of ascertaining what was beside the door… he said that he acted on instinct," Arnaud testified. Neighbour who swept up broken glass testifies A resident of Triq Ghabex, who swept up shattered glass from the road, also testified. "The day was a Sunday, two weeks ago," testified the neigh- bour. "We woke up to go to the 8am mass and my husband re- marked at the amount of glass there was outside. We returned from mass and I swept it up." "It wasn't a bottle or glass as usual." The broken glass was scat- tered across the road and the fragments were small, she said. The glass trail started from the right of her doorstep. "There was some on the left but not as much," she said. The woman had placed the glass in a garbage bag and left it on a low wall outside her house, to keep her grandchildren from hurting themselves with it. No bullet casings were found at the scene. Arnaud asked whether the woman remembered sweeping up anything else other than glass, but she could not say and the garbage bag had been re- used. The case continues tomorrow. Law yers Giannella de Marco, Gianluca Caruana Curran and Franco Debono are appearing for Magri. Law yer Jason Azzo- pardi appeared parte civile for the family of the victim. The prosecution is being led by in- spector Keith Arnaud. Investigators believe that Farrugia may not have been killed on the spot where he was found Migrant jobs scheme will deter abuse minister reassures TIM DIACONO A proposed job centre to regulate migrants seeking short-term em- ployment will help clamp down on their exploitation, education and employment minister Evarist Bar- tolo has argued. "Human dignity is irrelevant of nationality and skin colour, and the system will be based on the principle of equal pay for equal work," Bartolo told MaltaToday during a press conference. "This will be in the best interest of both foreign workers and locals – who suffer from the undercutting of wages." The scheme, set to be launched by the end of March, will establish two temping agencies at the Marsa and Hal Far open centres. Instead of loitering for work at popular hangouts like the Marsa bypass roundabout, these workers will instead have to register themselves at one of the brokerage offices. Employers seeking short-term em- ployment will then apply at one of the offices, which will match them up with migrant workers on their records. JobsPlus had originally proposed a voucher system – whereby em- ployers would purchase vouch- ers from the brokerage office and hand them to migrant workers at the end of the job, to be cashed in at one of the brokerage offices. However, it was scrapped after meeting resistance from social partners, who had opposed the flat rate of payment set at the mini- mum wage. Instead, employers will now sim- ply sign a form that will state the migrant workers' names, the dates and hours in which they will work, and the wage they will be paid di- rectly. To seek justice, underpaid migrants will have to take their case to the Department of Indus- trial Relations – who will likely have to decide between their word against their employer's. When asked how this scheme will be able to clamp down on the exploitation of migrants – the raison d'etre of the government's original proposal – Bartolo said that it will facilitate the supervi- sion of their work conditions. "We must first get these work- ers out of the black economy, and then address abuses as we address abuses in other economic sectors," he said. "Just because an economic sector doesn't operate within the black economy doesn't mean that there's no room for abuse. There's no automatic system that could safeguard these workers from abuse, but removing them from the black economy will facilitate supervision. JobsPlus executive chairman Clyde Caruana said that the scheme would start as a pilot pro- ject, after which it will be analysed and potentially tweaked. "We couldn't have a voucher system in place with different de- nominations for different types of work, because that would have rendered the system too complex and inflexible," he said. "We took a decision to start the scheme off as something simple so as to re- solve the problems of loitering and worker abuse. One cannot start building a complex system from the start, but must first start with an initiative that will be updated over time in the immigrants' best interests."