Updated 1730 – Afternoon Portal Review
The Times of Malta follows the compilation of evidence against Roderick Cassar, who denies killing his estranged wife and the mother of their two children on a road in Paola on November 22. Bernice Cassar had predicted that her estranged husband would kill her, the murdered woman’s aunt told a court as she slammed police for doing “nothing” following multiple reports.
Maltatoday reports that a team of rescuers from the Civil Protection Department left for earthquake-hit Turkey on Monday evening to assist in rescue operations. The urban search and rescue team is made up of 32 personnel and a dog trained to assist in disaster area searches.
The Malta Independent says that the Executive Committee of the Malta Police Union has told its members not to purchase any ferry tickets for Gozo trips.
TVM quotes Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa who said that according to a study, in 2022 Malta had the lowest rate of crimes in the past 15 years.
Updated 1230
Degiorgio brothers found guilty of money-laundering
George and Alfred Degiorgio have been found guilty on charges of money laundering and recidivism, with a Court sentencing them to imprisonment for four years and fining each of them €25,000. The Degiorgio brothers were each jailed for 40 years last year after admitting to having murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia at the start of their trial by jury. More than 60 witnesses testified during the course of the money laundering proceedings. (Maltatoday)
All criminal allegations are investigated after testimony claims former Minister linked to murder plot
The police have insisted they investigate all allegations of a criminal nature, in light of testimony linking former government minister Chris Cardona to an alleged plot to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2014. Police Commissioner Angelo Gafà insisted that the police investigate “any criminal allegations made against individuals” when asked why former deputy Labour leader and MP Chris Cardona has not been arraigned yet. The alleged plot was aborted and Caruana Galizia was killed three years later in car bomb attack in 2017. Self-confessed killer Vince Muscat, known as Il-Koħħu, claimed in court last week that he drove fellow killer George Degiorgio to meet Cardona and discuss killing the journalist back in 2014.Cardona dismissed claims he had advanced knowledge of the murder, saying attempts to link him to the plot were a “frame-up”. (Times of Malta/Newsbook)
€1m in drug money seized in 2022
The Police confiscated more than €1 million in drug-related money during 2022. This amount is double the highest figure ever confiscated during the past 10 years, which totalled €567,486 in 2021. According to information given in Parliament by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri, the amount of cash seized in 2021 added up to nearly double the sum seized in 2020. (Newsbook)
Morning Briefing
Domestic violence case against Bernice Cassar was deemed medium risk
When Bernice Cassar filed a domestic violence report alleging that her estranged husband held a knife to her throat, social workers classified her case as “medium risk”. Cassar was killed few months later. This emerged from court testimony on Monday in the case against Roderick Cassar, who is pleading not guilty to killing his ex-wife and the mother of their two children. If found guilty, he faces a stricter-than-usual sentence as the case is being tried as a murder with ‘femicidal intent’ – the first in local history since laws were amended to introduce that concept last year. (Times of Malta)
Magisterial inquiry underway into fraud allegations against notary’s widow
A magisterial inquiry into potential fraud by the widow of notary Ivan Barbara, requested by three former clients last year, has begun and is currently gathering testimony from all affected parties – understood to number at least 35. In a decree giving its assent to the appointment of a magisterial inquiry into potential fraud by the late notary Ivan Barbara and his wife last November, the Criminal Court had highlighted the need for Special Investigative Magistrates, resurrecting a draft bill from 1997 which was overlooked and never passed into law. (Maltatoday)
Minister denies delayed rescue of migrants
Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri has described claims by activists of a policy to delay migrant rescues as a form of deterrent as “totally false.” During a commemoration to those lost at sea on Sunday, 47 organisations condemned the government for, according to them, refusing to uphold its search and rescues (SAR) responsibilities and asking for this to change as it is causing the death of many asylum seekers. Camilleri added that Malta will continue working so to stop human traffickers from putting boats into the water and sending them out of Libya in the first place. (The Malta Independent)
