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maltatoday WEDNESDAY 21 MARCH 2018 News 4 MASSIMO COSTA MARIA Efimova, the former Pilatus Bank employee turned whistleblower, who was one of the sources of slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, has reportedly surrendered to the police in Greece. Efimova, who had given infor- mation to Caruana Galizia on alleged transactions amounting to $1 million from an account belonging to Azerbaijan's Presi- dent Ilham Aliyev's daughter to the Egrant Inc. Panama com- pany, had fled Malta last year, saying she was fearing for her and her family's safety. Greek news website tvxs.gr reported yesterday that the whistleblower, who it said had been living in Crete with her husband and two children, turned herself in to Greek police after she travelled to Greece to vote in the Russian election. The website said that, after receiving calls from mainly British media, which tried to involve her in the recent Brit- ish-Russian clash – regarding the poisoning of former Rus- sian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury – Efimova had decided to walk into a police station in Athens and surrender herself to Greek authorities, in fear for her life and her family's security. The tvxs.gr report was later backed by a senior Greek police official who spoke to the New York Times on condition of an- onymity, telling the newspaper that Efimova was arrested on Monday night and is expected to appear before a prosecutor. Efimova had told members of a European Parliament delega- tion who visited Malta on a fact- finding mission on the rule of law last December, that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's wife Michelle Muscat was the ben- eficiary owner of Egrant Inc. – a claim she had made previ- ously, and which was published on Caruana Galizia's blog. She answered MEPs' questions via video conferencing from an undisclosed location, and also passed on documents uphold- ing her claims. A European and Interna- tional arrest warrant had been issued against Efimova in November 2017, after she repeatedly failed to turn up for court sittings. She was being accused of defrauding Pilatus Bank and of having made false claims against in- spectors Jonathan Ferris and Lara Butters and Superinten- dent Denis Theuma. She also faces an arrest war- rant issued by Cyprus, where she is accused of having em- bezzled funds at a company for which she worked for four years ago. She had insisted that the claims were part of a plot organised in Malta to discredit her and get her extradited to the island. It was reported in January that Efimova had applied for asylum in an undisclosed Eu- ropean Union member state. MEPs request Greek authorities to protect whistleblower Members of the EP's rule of law delegation to Malta, including MEP David Casa, called on the Greek authorities to provide the whistleblower with protection, to safeguard her and her family's security, and for her not to be returned to Malta. "It has come to our attention that Russian whistleblower Maria Efimova, in fear of her life and the security of her fam- ily, walked into the Greek po- lice, in Athens, last night, ask- ing for protection," the MEPs said in a statement following news of the arrest. "Maria Efimova is a material witness in investigations on corruption and money laun- dering in Malta, involving Pi- latus Bank and government members exposed by Panama Papers and Malta's Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit." mcosta@mediatoday.com.mt Pilatus whistleblower Efimova surrenders to Greek police TIA RELJIC WHILE Malta has a lot to learn from Scandinavian countries, which have long served as prime examples of pro- gress and leadership in various areas, our country ought to be on the same level when it comes to discussing the future of the EU. This sentiment rings particularly true when the different countries' out- look towards the European Union is considered – as various Scandinavian countries and Malta appear to share a similar vision on the future of Europe. This was the reasoning that led to a signing of a memorandum of un- derstanding between Europaforum Hässleholm and Malta last week – a memorandum which created a part- nership by which Hässleholm will ad- vise Malta in the formation of its own Europaforum. Europaforum Hässleholm is an an- nual event which has evolved through- out the years to discuss economic, scientific, and societal issues through the EU perspective with 'broad partici- pation' of regional and international actors. The significance of this part- nership, therefore, is the involvement of Maltese citizens in a debate on the future of Europe and the EU which they were not privy to before. The memorandum of understand- ing was signed by the head of the Malta-EU Steering Action Commit- tee (MEUSAC) Vanni Xuereb and the Hässleholm Municipal Chief Execu- tive Bengt-Anne Persson during a visit by Parliamentary Secretary for EU Funds Aaron Farrugia last week. Following in the footsteps of Sweden in this regard makes sense for a num- ber of reasons. Scandinavian countries tend to be the most eurosceptic mem- ber states, and are generally opposed to a federal Europe – which is where they share common ground with Malta. "We have a lot in common with these countries, particularly on things we agree with on the EU level, and in terms of the direction that the EU is taking," Farrugia told this newspaper. "The general idea is that we can cau- cus with Scandinavian countries on several subjects. And this should be encouraged." Moreover, a Europaforum event of our own would prove that Malta is capable of giving direction, and show that the level of discussion on the fu- ture of EU is increasing within our own country. "This would serve as a step for for Malta to start discussing the future of Europe in a more profes- sional way. Malta wants to be involved in discussions about the EU, and not just follow them." "We should start positioning our- selves on what we think," Farrugia said, explaining that Malta shied away from giving its opinion on EU matters post-2014. But now, it is high time for the country to have a leadership role within the Union. "We don't want it to be a run-of-the- mill event. It should be an open semi- nar that will include a varied crowd from different sectors," Farrugia said, adding that the event would invite individuals from various sectors, and from different countries, in order to discuss things from outside the 'bub- ble of Brussels'. The reality is that Malta is no longer a new member state, Farrugia ex- plained, and Maltese citizens are ex- pected to play a more proactive role. The Hässleholm team has agreed to assist Malta in putting the event to- gether – a move which marks the beginning of a "deep and special re- lationship" between Hässleholm and Malta. Hässleholm to advise Malta in formation of local Europaforum MATTHEW AGIUS A man serving a prison sentence for aggravated theft has asked the Constitutional Court to de- duct from his sentence a number of years he spent under arrest for another offence and for which he was not convicted. Jeremy James Farrugia, 33, has a history of trou- ble with the law, with several convictions to his name. He had been arrested in connection with a hold-up in 2006 and was cleared in 2008. He was not granted bail in the interim period. Farrugia argued that this prolonged detention was a violation of his human rights. Even if there was reasonable suspicion, the length of time he was remanded in custody was not justified, his lawyer Joe Brincat said in an ap- plication filed before the First Hall of the Civil Court in its Constitutional jurisdiction yesterday morning. Farrugia was subsequently jailed for eight years in 2011 following separate proceedings for aggra- vated theft, but as this sentence nears its end, he is seeking to set off the time spent in custody for the crime he didn't commit. He is being held in prison "for nothing", said his lawyer. Quoting judgments by the European Court for Human Rights, Brincat argued that the man should have been granted bail but as this had not been granted, the time spent in preventive cus- tody for the offence which he had been declared innocent of should be reduced from his sentence. He also requested the court to grant financial compensation accordingly. Convict asks for sentence set-off The Pilatus Bank offices are located within Whitehall Mansions in Ta Xbiex