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MW 24 January 2018

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maltatoday WEDNESDAY 24 JANUARY 2018 News NINE of the ten men arrested on Monday night after a scuffle broke out among the migrants living at Safi Barracks, were charged in court with causing damage to the detention cen- tre and for taking part in a coordinat- ed criminal offence. The men were also charged with threatening police and detention cen- tre officers at the Hal Safi detention centre, failing to obey orders, and dis- turbing the peace. Tunisians Merwen Gbali, 27, Lotfi Ouedherfi, 57, and Querfelli Mahdi, 26, were charged in court yesterday along with the Egyptian, Mohamed El Shennwayh Sheri,51, Iraqi Hussaen Ahmed Hassan,25, Syrian Ahmed Odali Alali, 24, Moroccan Ibrahim El Ayachi, 26, and Libyan Zakaria Abidat, 29. A tenth individual, Mohammed Ali, was unable to attend the sitting yesterday as he was still at the clinic following Monday's incident. The immigrants were arrested on Monday night after a scuffle broke out among the migrants living at Safi Bar- racks. Police from the Rapid Intervention Unit, Special Intervention Group and the Zurrieq police station were in- formed, at around 8pm, that their as- sistance was required at the migrants' barracks in Kirkop. They discovered a brawl taking place between a group of migrants, and al- so noted that some damage had been done to the barracks. The men began causing a distur- bance in their room after they felt they were continuously ignored by security guards and police officers at the deten- tion centre. The men barricaded the door with beds and heaters found in their resi- dence. One of the accused stood up in court and insisted with the magistrate that the group did not cause any form of damage or injury to officers who were present on the scene. The ten irregular immigrants were placed under arrest and taken to the police headquarters for further inves- tigation, at which point one of the mi- grants, a Palestinian national, alleged- ly disobeyed routine police orders for a body search and acted aggressively. The Palestinian man was later taken to the Floriana health centre, where he was found to be suffering from serious injuries, since he required stitches for a wound behind his ear. In being taken back to police head- quarters, an inquiry on the incident the man was involved in was started by inquiring magistrate Grazio Mer- cieca. An internal investigation was also launched. The men, who all pleaded not guilty to the charges, were denied their re- quest for bail, after the prosecution successfully argued that the witnesses that may be called to testify are resi- dents of the detention centre in Hal- Safi. Helga Buttigieg Scicluna and Mario Buttigieg are defence counsel. Magistrate Yana Micallef Stafrace presided over the court. Nine irregular immigrants denied bail after Safi scuffle The men, who all pleaded not guilty to the charges, were denied their request for bail, after the prosecution successfully argued that the witnesses that may be called to testify are residents of the detention centre in Hal-Safi TIA RELJIC THE washing of the pavements of the streets of Valletta is still ongoing, and will be conclud- ed by the end of this week, a spokesperson for the Cleans- ing and Maintenance Division told MaltaToday. "The main issue we are facing right now is the noise caused by the trucks. But this will be dealt with by the end of the week." The Cleansing and Mainte- nance Division collected 12 tonnes of waste by the end of the V18 celebrations. 120 ad- ditional litter bins, apart from the permanent ones already stationed, were placed around the centre of Valletta for the occasion. A total of 15 workers were de- ployed to keep the areas clean while the celebrations, which kicked off after 4pm, were taking place. 30 workers were tasked with cleaning up in the aftermath – a process which extended till 5:30 the following morning. The cleaning up was done both manually and mechani- cally, and took place around all areas of the capital, with a special focus on the surround- ings of catering establishments and shops. Both Justice Minister Owen Bonnici and Parliamentary Secretary for Valletta 2018 Deo Debattista took to Facebook to praise the division for their ef- ficiency the following morn- ing, as the capital was visibly clean and tidy even before sun- rise, despite the attendance of over 100,000 on the opening night. 110,000 attendees 1,000 performing artists 450 production team members 12 tonnes of waste collected 120 additional litter bins placed around Valletta 15 workers cleaning during the festivities 30 workers cleaning after festivities 2am cleansing process started 5.30am cleansing process completed Valletta post-V18 celebrations clean-up to be completed this week Noise pollution caused by cleaning trucks will be dealt with

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