Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/947253
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2018 News 5 TIA RELJIC MEP and former Nationalist party MP Francis Zammit Di- mech has condemned the 'brutal murder' of investigative journal- ist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend, both aged 27. "When investigative journal- ists are killed in such a brutal way, one cannot but remember of the assassination of journal- ist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta which happened only five months ago," he said. Zammit Dimech drew parallels between the recent murder and that of Caruana Galizia, saying that it shed light on a situation which is happening in Malta as well. "The comparisons are obvi- ous," he said. "Jan Kuciak was an investigative journalist, investi- gating amongst other things, tax evasion, fraud and corruption. He was threatened by members of the State; unfortunately simi- lar to the situation independent journalists in Malta had to face recently." Citing news that Kuciak was in- vestigating foreign businessmen who allegedly used Malta for tax evasion and money laundering purposes, Zammit Dimech said that this concerns him as it "con- firms that impunity reigns in Malta," adding that the country has a culture in which "anyone can come and do as he pleases." The murdered journalist re- ported for the site Aktuality.sk and focused on fraud cases in- volving businessmen connected to politicians and the ruling par- ty in Slovakia. Kuciak and his girlfriend were found dead on Sunday in his home in Velka Maca, 65km east of the capital of Slovakia, Brati- slava. "In Slovakia there are another two journalists who vanished, both investigative journalists. In this brutal murder the people of Slovakia have lost an important source of information," Zammit Dimech said. Maltese MEP condemns murder of Slovak journalist YANNICK PACE THE cabinet has recommend- ed that President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca grant Christo- pher Bartolo bail pending a decision on his appeal by the Court of Criminal Appeal, the government said in a state- ment yesterday evening. The recommendation was made on the basis of a spe- cific provision in the Criminal Code allowing the President to grant Bartolo bail. Bartolo is currently serving a five-year prison sentence after he was found guilty of traffick- ing 1.5kg of cannabis last Feb- ruary. He was arrested after spending six hours hooked up onto a dialysis machine at hospital, since he suffers from failing kidneys. Bartolo had received a kidney trans- plant some years ago and his health has been rapidly deteriorating behind bars, as he waits to be released to receive intensive treatment. "The recommendation was given after consideration of all the special circumstances that are particular to his case, and after the cabinet asked for an independent medical opinion," the government said. "Bail will be temporary and will be subject to a number of conditions, including that, with the exception of particu- lar circumstances, Christo- pher Bartolo should not leave his residence." Earlier this month, Bartolo was told he would have to wait another month for court to decide on his bail request af- ter his sitting was adjourned after the Court of Appeal put off all its sittings for the day, because one of the presiding judges was indisposed. Bartolo's lawyer Franco Debono has insisted on a number of occasions that his last hope for survival is personal intervention by the President and the Justice Min- ister. Christopher Bartolo was sentenced to a five-year prison term for trafficking cannabis and desperately requires treatment following a failed kidney transplant Cabinet advises President to grant dying prisoner bail