21, Triq
it-Torri ta’ Alof de Wignacourt,
Xgħajra
22nd December 2014
The Editor
Maltatoday
Media Today Co. Ltd.
Vjal ir-Rihan,
San Ġwann SGN9016
Sir,
With
reference to the articles entitled “Public was misled
on disciplinary steps against Nwokye officers” and “My
name is Ifeanyi and I am dead”, carried in the
issue of “Maltatoday” of Sunday, 21st December 2014 on pages 1 and 21 respectively, you are requested to
publish the following according to the Press Act and with the same prominence
on your Sunday issue.
These are the facts related
to this case which are not portrayed clearly in your articles but which I had
already stated in Parliament just a few minutes after the Prime Minister’s
speech but which perhaps escaped you:
1. On the 17th
April 2011,
following the death of Infeanyi Nwokye, the Ministry
for Justice and Home Affairs issued a press statement informing the public that:
a) an
independent Board of Inquiry had been set up under Chapter
273 of the Laws
of Malta;
b) a Magisterial inquiry was being conducted so that the facts would be established and the
evidence preserved, whilst;
c) a Police
investigation was also underway.
2. The next
day ,
another press statement published the letter of appointment of the Board setting out the terms of reference of
the public inquiry which was to be led by Mr
Martin Scicluna. (It would have been imprudent for Lt.Col. Brian Gatt to carry
out the investigations since at the time he was the person in charge of the
detention centres and the independent Board of Inquiry would also have to
evaluate his position.)
3. One of the Board’s
remit was :
“
examining and establishing whether there had been negligence, whether the
correct procedures had been followed,
whether there had been abuse of authority on the part of any official/s of
the Detention
Services
or any other officers involved in this
incident”[1]
4. On the 26th
August 2011,
the report of the independent Board of
Inquiry was submitted to the Ministry. A press statement was subsequently
issued on the 13th October 2011 when I resumed my duties in the
ministry after under going major surgery at Mater Dei Hospital during September 2011.
5. The report
stated that disciplinary action against a number of officials should be taken:
“Hemm lok għal passi dixxiplinarji kontra numru ta’ uffiċjali li kienu
b’xi mod involuti fl-incident, għalkemm f’xi każi l-azzjoni ma
tistax tittiehed qabel ma
jkun magħruf l-eżitu tal-awtopsja tad-detenut li miet.”
The Board of Inquiry
also stated that since the Magisterial inquiry had not been concluded and the result of the autopsy was not accessible
to them, the report could not be conclusive on all points. The Times of Malta
reported this on the following day in an item entitled
“Board calls for officials to face discipline” where it is stated:
“An Inquiry Board that probed the death of an illegal immigrant who was caught
after escaping from the Safi Detention Centre last April, has called for
disciplinary measures to be taken against a number of officials involved in the
incident. But in “some cases” the action against officials cannot be taken
until the autopsy results are released by the magisterial inquiry.”
6.As also stated in the press statement
this report was passed on to both the Commander
of the Detention Services Lt Col Brian Gatt and the Commander of the Armed Forces of Malta, Martin Xuereb wherein it was stated that:
“L-awtoritajiet konċernati qed jikkonsidraw fid-dettal il-kummenti
tal-Bord biex, fejn hemm lok jittieħdu passi
dixxiplinari b’mod spedit mingħajr ma jiġu kompromessi proċeduri ulterjuri li jistgħu jirriżultaw mill-inkjesta Maġisterjali”.
One must here bear in mind that there is a strong
legal opinion that if both disciplinary procedures and court criminal
procedures are taken this could amount to double jeopardy which could result in
the acquittal of the guilty party. Thus one had to make sure that criminal legal
action could effectively be taken after the conclusion of the Magisterial
inquiry. If disciplinary action had been
taken prematurely after the publication of the report it could have jeopardized
the criminal procedure.
7.
So contrary to what both your articles are implying, I did not impede any action on the
matter. The investigation on the death of
Infeanyi
Nyowke was entrusted to the competent authorities to
be carried out according to law, with the
ensuing legal and disciplinary actions.
8.
Unfortunately, the Magisterial inquiry led by Mag. Tonio Micallef Trigona took three years to be concluded and criminal
action could finally be instituted against three persons according to the
direction and instruction of the magisterial inquiry this February 2014.
9. Please note that the Valenzia report as it is
being referred to in the media was commissioned after the death of immigrant
Mamadou Kamara who died on the 29th June 2012 when I was no longer a
minister and the immigration portfolio had then passed to the office of the
Prim Minister.
10.
Please also note that the Armed Forces of Malta were never part of my
ministerial portfolio as you seem to imply.
All the above may be easily verified by your readers and
journalists by accessing the DOI and Times of Malta websites.
I had imagined that people had already formed the opinion
that the allegations made against me were bereft of any substance. In fact, no interest
whatever was even alleged, let alone proven in a possible cover up for any
person at all.
Finally
if sticking to what is right, proper and according to the Rule of Law is
considered by you as a sign of weakness, then our standards are completely different.
You mentioned my being a religious person: I do not disown my beliefs and try
to act according to the ethics of these beliefs. Furthermore I do not see any
strength in proving a point by attacking the conduct of others.
I am also reserving all my
rights at law.
Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici LL.D., M.P.
[1] “b) Jara u jistabilixxi jekk kemm-il-darba kienx
hemm negilġenza,
non-osservanza ta’ proċeduri, jew abbuż
ta’ awtorità minn naħa
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