Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/897139
maltatoday SUNDAY 5 NOVEMBER 2017 Opinion 26 Labour MP Joseph Brincat has present- ed a private member's bill in Parlia- ment to remove the prescriptive time for crimes of corruption and abuse. Brincat has proposed that the run- ning of prescription be removed on crimes involving the corruption and bribery of public officers, members of the judiciary and law enforcement of- ficials, MPs and councillors. The bill also calls for the removal of prescription on cases where public officers take any private interest in the issuing or adjudication of orders. "I consider that the matter should have been on the agenda for a long time. It is true Labour have promised this proposal in its last electoral mani- festo. I do not expect the PM from an opposing party would legislate on parts on the Labour manifesto," Brincat told MaltaToday. Prescription bars criminal action from being taken in respect of several crimes after a number of year elapse from when a crime is known to have been committed. In Maltese law, prescription is deter- mined by the term of imprisonment specified for each crime, unless other- wise stated. In the case of crimes liable to the punishment of imprisonment of not less than twenty years, prosecution is time-barred after 20 years. Brincat said the bill was in conform- ity with Article 29 of the United Na- tions Convention against Corruption, which binds State parties to establish longer limitations or suspend prescrip- tion where alleged offenders evade justice. "Malta should ratif y such a Conven- tion. Or have we always been and will always be in the future above suspi- cion, that such sins are alien to our culture? I have my doubts, I have some evidence, and I have my conviction that we are not holier than others," Brincat said. In September 1990, seven months after a report by the Permanent Com- mission against Corruption, criminal charges were filed against former La- bour minister Lorry Sant, Piju Camill- eri, Victor Balzan, Joseph Camilleri, Joe Pace and Ganni Camilleri on ac- cusations of corruption. Lorry Sant and Piju Camilleri were also accused of abusing their public posts for personal gain. In May 1991, however, during the compilation of evidence, Magistrate Carol Peralta declared that despite enough evidence to issue a bill of indictment, none of the cases could be prosecuted because they had been prescribed by law. The law carries a prescription of five years in cases of corruption, meaning a person accused of corruption has to be brought to justice within five years of being indicted for the crime. Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. News – 7 November, 2007 Reference is made to the article published in MaltaToday (29 October 2017) entitled "Pre-elec- toral Gozo Channel jobs costing hundreds of thousands". The Company categorically denies the allegations made in the article as follows: The three-month contract the Company had signed with Ozo Security Ltd amounted to €71,520.80 and not €214,562 as reported in the newspaper. Thus, it is not true that the Company has paid €5,500 each month for each security. The 3 month contract the Company had signed with Signal 8 Security Services Ltd amounted to €77,610.00 and not €232,830 as reported in the newspaper. Thus, it is not true that the Company has paid €5,174 each month for each security. The direct order with Signal 8 Security to provide the services of Mooring Men amounting to €260,846 was an approval in prin- ciple. The actual costs payable to the Contractor are still being worked out by the Company. The direct order with Executive Security Services Ltd to pro- vide the services of Seamen on board the Gozo Channel vessels amounting to €124,999.95 was an approval in principle. After the actual invoices had been checked and approved by the Company, the actual cost amounted to €108,346.71 i.e. €16,653.24 less. Jacqueline Mizzi Gozo Channel Editorial note: MaltaToday understands that the information published, sourced from a parliamentary question document, was incorrectly represented in the first place in the PQ, which referred to the amounts as the "monthly cost" for each contract, hence the incorrect trebling. Labour MP tables bill against prescription on corruption Gozo Channel direct orders On political dishonesty Justice for abused children The Nationalist Party has a his- tory of being dishonest politi- cally. There is no doubt that over the years the party has given its share of contribution for the progress in our country to be what it is today. This contribu- tion has been made not without hefty handouts given to blue eyed boys over so many years; just witness the contracts and other conditions dished out to them in secret and many times in the open as well. Having been massively defeated in two consecutive universal suffrage and fair elections, the Nationalist Party cannot swallow the fact that it is again in opposi- tion. It is now taking advantage of a murder to attempt to destabilise the country only because it is not the party in government. The Party even resorts to extreme measures to discredit our con- stitutional institutions and to give a bad name to our country abroad. Whatever the political differences inside the country, the common man in the street, the person who does not have a voice, the one who is not a conserva- tive educated intellectual with vested interest, will never accept that one of our political pillars of these beautiful islands will go to Europe and the World to give us a bad name. Nor will the common man accept the harsh attacks on individual persons who no doubt make extreme personal efforts to do their best in their call of public and constitutional duties. It is simply not accepted from pres- sure groups who pretend to be educated and who should respect the electoral result established just a few months ago. The heart of the Nationalist Party remains elitist. It believes that it has a vested right to govern this country forever, regardless of election results. It amazes me how other English language media sources, who should know better, continue to condone, even support, such malicious politics. This is simply not on in a healthy democracy. This country moves on. Anybody with contacts with our daily public services, in his or her heart of hearts, knows that public services have generally been very much improved. This is a feather in the cap of the current leaders in the public service who remain our unsung heroes. George Camilleri Paola I believe that 18 November is the European Day for the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploi- tation and Sexual Abuse and 19 November is the World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse. I imagine both Occupy Justice and the Civil Society Network fight for justice for abused people. I expect them to do so this year by setting up camp on the parvis of St John's in front of the Law Courts, on November 18 and 19. Actually I don't remember Malta marking these two days in support of all those who have been abused in their younger days. These victims must have gone through a living hell, and I doubt if they were ever compensated in some man- ner. In 2011, their lawyer stopped them from carrying placards in front of the Curia and even stopped the press from taking photos of the placards! Toni Cardona Via email Said puts Delia's head on the chopping block Chris Said has tabled a motion in parliament asking the Prime Minister to appoint a board of inquiry consisting of three retired judges, to investigate all the persons mentioned by the late Daphne Caruana Galizia in connection with scandals of corruption. Hence Said is of- ficially asking that his own leader, Adrian Delia, the present leader of the PN and the opposition, be investigated. I am sure that many will be following the debate on this mo- tion with great interest. What I would like to point out to Said and your readers is the fact that Daphne Caruana Galizia was very selective when choosing whom to target. Very rarely had she investigated prominent PN politicians. I do not recall that she had ever called for an investi- gation about former PN minister Tonio Fenech when his private secretary, Noel Borg Hedley, had been found guilty of accepting bribes. Or when he was involved in a company which was being investigated for lack of good gov- ernance, involving many millions of euros. Neither do I recall Daphne in- vestigating Beppe Fenech Adami about his involvement with a company which was being inves- tigated over money-laundering of many millions of euros, allegedly originating from drug traffick- ing. Or about Jason Azzopardi who has been involved in stories such as the 'Tal-Fekruna' land, the Lowenbrau land deal and the latest story about the Spinola property deal, estimated to cost over €2 million, but calculated by the court for over €600,000, and from which finally the govern- ment only received €35! There are a good number of other cases going back decades about which we had never read a word from Mrs Caruana Galizia. Such as the stories about the Foundation for Tomorrow's Schools and the Auxiliary Work- ers Training Scheme when Louis Galea was the minister responsi- ble for them. This is why I believe that Said's motion is discriminatory. If any- thing, Said should have said that all cases which had been men- tioned by all journalists should be investigated, and not just those mentioned by Daphne Caruana Galizia. After all, this govern- ment has abolished prescription for politicians, as well as intro- duced the Whistleblower Act. This is why I believe that the real aim of Said's motion is to fur- ther undermine Dr Delia's posi- tion as PN and Opposition leader, a post he was eager to get as long as he was uncontested for it. Eddy Privitera Mosta