‘Not enough evidence to send someone to court’ – Minister Abela on car bomb spike

“There is not enough evidence to present a strong case in order to take a person to court,” Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela told a press conference following yesterday’s car bomb incident at Msida.

Responding to a question from The Malta Independent concerning the lack of concrete progress in investigations into the alarming number of car bombs plaguing the islands (five since the start of 2016), Mr Abela insisted that it was the role of the police force to handle investigations, and that currently the case is yet to be closed.

The minister called the press conference to announce that the Cabinet would be meeting today to discuss the facts of the incident and evaluate whether the police require more support and additional measures when it comes to investigations of these kinds of crimes.

“I know the police conduct serious investigations and do all they can to solve them as quickly as possible, but Cabinet will discuss the facts of what occurred and what kind of help can be provided to the police for similar situations.”

Cabinet will also discuss whether harsher penalties are required for these kinds of crimes.

“As a government we are outraged by what happened and are shocked that such incidents are happening.”

He said that an explosion on a busy road may not only have implications “on the person targeted in the car, but also on others who happen to be close by.”

When asked by The Malta Independent why the Cabinet had waited for another incident to discuss the issue when there have been a total of five car bombs since the start of 2016, the minister said that the Cabinet “has complete faith in the police corps in dealing with the investigation. The Cabinet feels that we need to continue helping the police force by introducing measures to deal with the issue.”

“We will continue fighting crime and explore the possibility of whether the police need more support when it comes to investigations on these kinds of crimes, and what kind of support this will be.”

When asked what exactly the additional measures would entail, the minister said that this would be discussed today.

The minister could not confirm whether or not Commissioner of Police Lawrence Cutajar would be present. Why his presence has not yet been confirmed is a mystery, especially considering it is the police force which is heading the investigation.

Mr Abela also excluded the possibility that recent car bombs are related to gang violence.