Good evening,
A major drug haul, the beginning of the ‘forensic’ and the academic year and the reaction to MEP’s Sven Giegold’s threat of starting to campaign to force HSBC out of Malta are the main highlights of today’s news.
Three Sicilians have been arrested in connection to a discovery of a large quantity of drugs was discovered by the police in a garage in Sliema on Monday. The raid took place just after 1pm in Mattew Pulis Street, in the area known as Tigne. Armed policemen went on site in civilian clothes and entered a garage at an apartment block. RIU officers also assisted in the operation.
OneNews / Times of Malta / Independent / NetNews
Today marked the start of the ‘Forensic Year’.
Chamber of Advocates President George Hyzler said that he has had what he hopes was the last meeting with the Justice Ministry over a bill which will regulate the legal profession, ironing out the last points of dispute over its creation.
He said that the Chamber of Advocates has been campaigning for the need for regulations of the legal profession, he said, highlighting that lawyers who do not work in court sometimes mix their work with other jobs, with different ethical practices.
Chief Justice Joseph Azzopardi commented on peoples reaction when a person is appointed to the judiciary, and said that everyone appointed takes an oath where they pledge loyalty to the Republic and the Maltese people. “I am certain that every one of us took this oath with the seriousness it deserves.” He said that his has absolute trust in his colleagues. Turning to advocates, he aired his disappointment at the “small number” of lawyers who do everything so that a case never ends, even after a final verdict by the Court of Appeal. He said that recently, it has become a fashion for the lawyer of the losing party to, after the case having taken years, ask for the case to be heard from scratch. When this is refused, he said, the lawyer suddenly says that their right to a fair hearing was breached and propose a Constitutional case.
Archbishop Scicluna, celebrated mass, and said that when justice is not served the Courts of Justice become an instrument of oppression. “God forbid we ever end up with the courts becoming an instrument of oppression.” Noting that some clients do not want the truth to come out or justice to flourish, he said that lawyers must not compromise the truth or justice the Archbishop warned members of the judiciary and lawyers of the peril of becoming instrument that perpetuate lies. When this happens, the Republic is ill-served, affirmed Scicluna. Members of the judiciary and those who worded in the administration of justice should be the servants of justice and the people’s champions against arrogance of the mighty.
Today also marked the start of the University Academic year.
University rector Alfred Vella has urged students to read up on sustainability, with a heartfelt plea for this to be taken seriously in Malta.
In his customary opening address at the start of the academic year, Prof. Vella said that when it came to sustainability, the country’s grades were far from perfect As. He urged students to make sustainability a cornerstone of their learning, in a bid to help save the island for this, and future generations. To do so, we would have to keep waste generation to a minimum, said rector Vella. “Religious commitment” to the five R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle, recover, residual management) was a good place to start, he said.
Following the story that the Green MEP Sven Giegold has said that he’ll put pressure on HSBC to leave Malta, several MPs and MEPs from Malta declared their disagreement with his statement. The reactions varied from the political statements from a number of MPs and politicans (including AD Chairperson Carmel Cacopardo) to a emphatic F— off from Nationalist MP Herman Schiavone
Malta Today reports “But the German MEP’s overzealous interest in punishing Malta has found no backing among Geigold’s fellow Greens in Malta. Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson Carmel Cacopardo insisted Geigold’s intention to fight money laundering may be good but his method was “an exaggeration”.“I completely disagree with what he said. By targeting HSBC he is being unfair to the whole country when the fight against money laundering should be taken to the authorities,” Cacopardo told MaltaToday. A similar strong reaction came from Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola, who sits on the same cross-party committee as Geigold in the European Parliament. “I completely and categorically disagree with what Sven Giegold has said,” Metsola said when asked whether she endorsed the German MEP’s comments. “If he thinks that action against money laundering and corruption means going after HSBC’s legitimate operations in Malta he is grossly mistaken. All he will achieve is recklessly worrying the hundreds of hardworking, honest people at HSBC in Malta. It is scaremongering,” Metsola said. The MEP insisted that she had always defended legitimate business in Malta. “This we did when the Socialist Party [in Europe] demanded Malta be labelled a tax haven. I will not hesitate to stand up again,” she added.”
Other reports: Independent / Times of Malta
The Nationalist Party has tabled a motion in parliament to revoke Tony Zarb’s Gieh ir-Repubblika, the highest honor a Maltese citizen can receive. In it they quote Zarb as saying “keep messing around, keep placing flowers, you can adore her, but the important thing is that she’ll never be back”, referring to the make-shift memorial of assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
