Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/853507
2 MIRIAM DALLI NATIONALIST MEP David Casa has sent an open letter to the European Commission in which he declares that the leader of the opposition "is being arraigned". PN leader Simon Busuttil has not yet been arraigned, but the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Keith Schembri, has asked the Police Commis- sioner to investigate Busuttil for "lying under oath, fabri- cating lies and calumny". The police complaint was filed after Busuttil asked the court to investigate the Panamanian company held by Schembri. His audit firm, Nexia BT, had given the go- ahead to open a bank account for the offshore company, de- spite Panamanian bank BSI requiring minimum deposits of $1 million a year. Schembri has declared that no accounts were held by Tillgate Inc. In the letter to First Vice- President of European Com- mission Frans Timmermans, Casa wrote: "The allegations being made [against Busuttil] are completely unfounded. This state of affairs is unprec- edented in Malta and is the first time that the Leader of the Opposition is being ar- raigned." Timmermans has already rejected a similar previous request by Casa: "The Com- mission is aware that several of the allegations to which the Honourable Member refers are the subject of ongoing ju- dicial inquiries. It is Commis- sion policy not to comment on ongoing inquiries and investigations in individual cases." In his fresh request, Casa claimed that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, minister Kon- rad Mizzi and Schembri "im- plemented a complex scheme of corruption and money laundering immediately after taking office in 2013". "Despite FIAU reports re- questing the police to act, no action has been taken so far. A FIAU employee, that was recently dismissed claimed that he was removed from Malta's Anti-Money Launder- ing Agency for 'digging too deep' and that FIAU reports were not so much as regis- tered by the police as is nor- mal practice in such cases," Casa wrote. Sacked FIAU investiga- tor Jonathan Ferris told the Times of Malta that he was asked to step away from the Pilatus Bank investigation after it transpired that one of the bank 's employees faced a court case for defaming a number of police officers, in- cluding the same Ferris. Fer- ris however believes that he was sidelined because "they did not want him digging too deeply into the investigations concerning the government". Casa told the EU that a num- ber of magisterial criminal investigations were under- way. "This is not the normal process. Magistrates had to be resorted to by the Oppo- sition because the police and the attorney general ignored the recommendations of the FIAU." A total of three in- quiries are currently under- way – one surrounding the Prime Minister and two sur- rounding his chief of staff. "Now Keith Schembri, who remains the Prime Minister's chief of staff and one of the people implicated in corrup- tion and money laundering by these FIAU reports has requested the same police to investigate leader of the op- position Simon Busuttil for presenting false evidence. This when the evidence in question results from the Panama Papers and FIAU reports and is public knowl- edge. This is clearly an abuse of power and an act intended to intimidate those who speak out against corruption," Casa wrote. "On the 4th July you claimed that you were not aware of the facts of this case. While I hope that you might already be more knowledgeable now, I ask that you revisit the issue especially in view of the lat- est developments and that the European Commission takes action to protect the rule of law and democracy in Malta." maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 26 JULY 2017 News Simon Busuttil 'is being arraigned', David Casa tells EU Head of PN delegation to the European Parliament sends open letter to the European Commission and says that Simon Busuttil 'is being arraigned' Therapists now offering 'safe space' tents at parties Therapists offering 'safe space' dome tents at festivals as refuge for overwhelmed party-goers TIM DIACONO FESTIVAL and party organis- ers will now be able to com- mission a team of professional therapists to set up tents to serve as 'safe spaces' for over- whelmed party-goers. The novel concept, which has been called 'Chat Bar', is the brainchild of Willingness Malta – a multi-disciplinary team of therapists spear- headed by sexologist Matthew Bartolo. On its website, it says that it is offering air-conditioned dome tents to serve as 'safe spaces' within parties for peo- ple who "feel overwhelmed due to the mixture of intoxi- cation, mental health issues or relational issues, exhaustion and the festival atmosphere". "Our fun and professional staff can greet the festival goer with a cup of tea and a chat in order to offer contain- ment and help with whatever they might be going through at that point in time," Will- ingness said. "Sometimes we get bad thoughts in the places where we should be having most fun. In this case, tell your mates to get you to Chat Bar. Do not let your thoughts get too intense before you tell them. Thoughts and emotions do not just happen. Like an el- evator, they go up from 1 to 10 slowly, or sometimes rapidly. "Speak up when the thought or emotion is still controlla- ble. That way, you have ample time to get to us at Chat Bar." Willingness has also pub- lished a "survival guide" for festivals – encouraging party-goers to bring protec- tive clothing, comfy foot- wear, a power bank and any prescribed drugs along with them, to agree on a meeting place with their friends in case they get lost, and to pace themselves if taking drugs. "Start low and take it slow – Be careful. Take it easy. The effects of substances can be altered by the festival atmos- phere and even people who've tried them before can have a different experience," it said. "Small amounts. You can al- ways add to the effect but you can't take it away. If you feel anxious or vulnerable then seek help. Our Chat Bar crew are trained in this. "Tell your mates what you're on. We know drugs are ille- gal… but tell them if you're taking anything." MEP David Casa (right) wrote to EC vice-president Timmermans (left)