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MALTA’S PRIME MINISTER Robert Abela says he is under investigation for his role in the death of at least five migrants who tried to sail from Libya to Italy.
Monitors of Mediterranean crossings said five people died and seven others went missing while their boat was in distress off Malta’s coast this week.
The boat was reportedly carrying around 55 people. It eventually returned to Libya under disputed circumstances after being spotted by a fishing boat.
On Thursday, Malta’s Repubblika civil rights organisation filed two police reports alleging criminal inaction on the part of Abela and Maltese armed forces commander Jeffrey Curmi.
Its second report was filed against 11 crew members of a Maltese patrol boat who allegedly cut the cables of the migrant dinghy’s motor.
The prime minister said in a television address last night that he had volunteered to cooperate with the police investigation.
“I was informed that, because of the nature of the accusations, the police have asked a magistrate to launch an enquiry into the armed forces officials and myself,” Abela said.
Investigators would probe “the homicide … of several irregular migrants at sea”, he added.
“The charge for homicide carries with it a life sentence,” the Maltese premier said.
Maltese police reports are automatically investigated. Criminal proceedings can then be launched depending on how much evidence is found.
Both Malta and Italy have closed their ports to migrants, citing the threat of the novel coronavirus.
The Mediterranean representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said “several grey areas remain about what exactly happened”.
“But for sure, lives could have been saved, the rescue should not have been delayed, those ‘rescued’ should not have been returned to #Libya & now need to be rescued from serious risks to their life,” UNHCR special envoy Vincent Cochetel tweeted.
Abela said he had acted in Malta’s national interest by protecting its citizens from the coronavirus pandemic.
“My conscience is clear because we have done everything in our power to protect our people and all those who live in this country,” he said.
Abela insisted that Maltese ports would remain closed until the pandemic subsides.
“In a health emergency, this country is not a safe port for migrants,” he said.
I am sick to my teeth with these spineless full of crap politicians. Why as a people are we not rising up against this governments actions??. We are the whipping boys of Europe just like we were the whipping boys of the Brits for 800 years. This disgusts me to the bone.
€1bn less austerity every year disgusts you?
You write well for an 800 year-old man and that is not taking into account that you were being whipped for the entire period.
Higgins go away it’s you and ur lot I want to kick off this island!!!
If you studied or even understood economics you would know this is a bad deal for everyone on this island now and in the future.
Your party is full of lies has no back bone and has done nothing for the ordinary working class.
Now please go away
All in a days work fella
Is it not €2bn less p.a.?
What disgust me David was the balmy any corruption that to played out in front of my eyes last night to make and illegal debt legal and the fact that everyone is saying we got this good deal but yet austerity will still be heaped on the people. This government have managed to double this debt and make it sovereign, well done. Illegal ,private banking debt
Saturday join in the protest in Dublin or Galway me show this government and future governments what we are made of come out and show your support come out and let them know we are not taking Their Lies and contempt anymore SATURDAY 9th Feb which is the day after tomorrow
Rising up. Meaning what? Get guns and shoot people? I have read some hysterical nonsensical childish sh!te on this site in recent days. But congratulations Simon. You win the prize. It’s a brain!
Where in galway will the protest be?? I might call in with my logical friends and counter protest… drive the so called ‘protestors’ off the streets…
Is there protest in cork also ?
@Jilie ……..Yes there is a protest in Cork also
Paul…surely you realise this is a bad deal…….for the journal naysayers who cannot see anything positive in anything and just get off on bad news.
Maybe it’s just me but it seems the Government are patting themselves on the back that Anglo is no more … The debt is still there and it may increase with interest,, they turned a promissory note into a state debt maybe someone can explained to me What have they to gloat about??
That they are still on his wages,perks and pensions. While you and I and our children and your grandchildren are fcuked
Elaine. The debt has more than doubled, yet you find people coming on here to celebrate a billion less per year on austerity measures. Where’s yer man Varadkar today? There’s not a word out of him. “Not one more cent” I’m only realising now what he meant by that statement.6400 billion more cents Leo. Is that what you were trying to say back in 2011?
They’ve swept something nasty under our carpet and they’re getting away with it.
Between now and the next election we’ll see all sorts of “funding” being rolled out with claims it’s all down to this “deal”.
The memory of Anglo will dim and there’s plenty of time to put a nice spin on the whole saga.
Some of them can even smell re-election, you can see the relief on their faces.
It’s now €60 Billion.
“oh what a difference a days makes……24 little hours” I’m sound for my kids and grandkids to pay for this generations mistake. short term gain but long term pain
having some empathy for the government they couldn’t have done anything else but what they did….but it galls me that bond holders didn’t lose a cent
I’m so mad I think I will write a strongly worded letter.
Michael Noonan is to be congratulated on an excellent deal negotiated. It’s a good day for New Ireland. Liquidating Anglo was a good move. FF should have done it some years ago.
It’s a marginally better day today for anyone over 40. It may be okay for New Ireland as you call it, but it is a very bad day for Future Ireland.
We have certainly lumbered the future generation with our debts and in the New Ireland of self interest and self protection, it is a moderately good deal.
If you can ignore the morality and fairness aspect, ignore foisting this on the next two generations, and be happy that the Promissory Notes were absolutely legally secure and would never have been partly written down, then we have bought the present at the expense of the future.
Is there anything to said for saying a mass!
Why do the disgruntled, uneducated and hate-filled comments always get the most likes? Some people’s reasoning is just scary. Welcome to Ireland – we like to give out about everything!
Anything to say on the article or is this just an admonition for those of us who fail to see how wonderful everything is?
An educated rebuttal? A rarity of worth. Good man Peter. I have one question – if today’s news is such a cataclysmic political blunder, why have so many political parties being pushing so adamantly for it?
They ll only ask the last person to leave Ireland to turn off the lights
The ESB no wait, is it the ECB, anyhow the lights will have been disconnected well before then!
But we’ve left the immersion on.
Well at least when we do come to pay it the economy will have grown and it in real terms will not be as big!
Folks
Buy bank shares now while they are on the floor
Things can only get better!
Lets all be realistic. There never was going to be a write down of the debt. I think under the circumstances this is the best deal they could get. Sure, there is still the interest to be paid every year, but nobody seems to be thinking of the money saved. That’s 2 billion that can be used otherwise. To hire nurses etc. To be put back into the economy. To help badly needed growth in the country.
Nobody can look 40 years into the future. Who knows what will be?
If you work on an inflation rate of 2% then the 30 billion will be worth about 53 billion in 30 years time, 66 in 40 years. This is effectively halving the debt by the standards of that time. Not a bad deal, given the fact that the country had time to grow and prosper.
Maybe people need to stop only seeing the negative and start concentrating on the positives of a situation.
Michael Noonan sounds like Hannibal Lecter
Wafflers
Lookin fwd to readin my 5 and 2 yr olds their bedtime stories now about how their children and their grandchildren will be paying debts caused by greedy shower of f#%ker$ .people talk about being proud to be Irish ! Why ??? A corrupt country ran by thieves and crooks
Does this mean I won’t have to cancel my Sky sports sub .? No wait …that’s the Household tax ..sheet!
noonan = neamhinniúil
Mr Noonan cares what you think I am sure..
Maybe…just maybe it is a good deal! Why do so many people think Europe are out to get us, and we’re all half wits…this is economics and not lads agreeing a deal for a dog in a pub. Have faith and get on living your life, it’s not that bad I bet !
I could not play this. Is it working?
Hi Patrick, the press conference has been delayed. It’s due to kick off shortly and the live stream should start working then.
It’s working now
Thanks Christine.
Too many naysayers in this country,this was the best deal this government could have got,it’s a much cheaper option than the promissory notes..a debt write was never on the cards,& it was FF that got us into this situation on the first place,so some credit where credit is due for getting this deal..
Everyone is missing the main talking point of this article……Noonan describes how he bought his house in Limerick in 1068?!?!
Whatever you want to say about him, he looks well for a man who has to be pushing 1000!
The only way ireland will be a better place is for people to over throw the government. 1 problem with that is we are a civilised country who bitch and moan but do sheg all about it. If it honest to god bothered people that much then someone would have done something about it
This deal is an utter disgrace. The private debt of the crooks at Anglo/ Nationwide etc has now officially become sovereign debt. To sweeten the pill for ourselves, we’ve passed it on to the next two generations. There is no cause for celebration here. Yet another sell out of the Irish people by our so-called representatives.
Ahhh, the chuckle brothers! Don’t you love them.
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