Woman who allegedly instigated racist attack against black Hungarian student apologises
● Interconnector fault leads to widespread blackout ● Two men breach parliament security
On 15 August, an 11-year-old Maltese girl drowned in an Austrian river
The month of August was slightly quieter as one would expect but saw a magistrate step down from his role while the woman who instigated a racist attack against a black student in July apologised to him.
On 1 August, the Coast Road was partially re-opened to traffic after EU-funded works were conducted on the long stretch of road. On the same day, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said that he will not remove former acting police commissioner Ray Zammit as chief of the new wardens’ agency following an inquiry report conducted by a former judge who concluded that Mr Zammit’s conduct was “censurable but not serious”. The inquiry looked into family Zammit’s connections with businessmen. His two sons – Daniel and Roderick – formed part of the Economic Crimes Unit. Daniel had been boarded out of the police force while Roderick was transferred to another unit.
On 3 August, a 35-year-old Somali man was fined €20 for masturbating in public, in full view of passers-by in front of the British High Commission in Ta’ Xbiex.
On 5 August, a boat carrying hundreds of migrants – nearly 600 – capsized off the coast of Libya, sparking off a major rescue operation. Many of the migrants lost their life.
On 6 July, a widespread blackout left many localities without power for just under two hours. The blackout was caused by an interconnector fault on the Sicily end of the underwater cable, the government said.
On 8 August, we reported that former Labour Party candidate and party treasurer Joe Sammut was being held for questioning by the police’s Economic Crimes Unit over the registration of Libyan companies in Malta. Since then he was charged in court.
On 13 August, the woman who allegedly racially assaulted Hungarian student Daboma Jack at the bus terminus in Valletta the previous month apologised to him and embraced him in court as the two withdrew the criminal complaints against each other.
On 15 August, an 11-year-old Maltese girl drowned in an Austrian river. Rescuers found Maria Stellini’s lifeless body floating in the water after the girl, who was on holiday with her family in Austria, got separated from her parents.
On 17 August, Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia expressed his concern about a “serious security breach” in Parliament after two Maltese men were found hiding in Parliament between 9.30 and 10.30am the previous day. The two had been charged in court and jailed.
On 18 August, accountant Joe Sammut was released on bail after he pleaded not guilty to a string of charges including fraud, misappropriation of funds, money laundering and falsification of documents.
On 26 August, Magistrate Carol Peralta stepped down.
The next day we reported exclusive comments made to this newsroom by the former magistrate who stressed that he did not resign but that he has instead retired early.
Magistrate Peralta had been involved in a controversy back in 2013 after holding a Christmas party in his courtroom and ordering the arrest of a Times of Malta reporter.
On 30 August, The Malta Independent revealed that Bank of Valletta, after suffering significant embarrassment over the misuse of an early retirement scheme to accommodate its former legal adviser Michael Falzon when he was named parliamentary secretary in 2014, was seeking ways to remove employees’ automatic right to benefit from the scheme.