Friday, 10th October 2008
Nadur rape case
Police probe bribery attempt allegations
'The investigation is still ongoing'
The police are investigating claims that lawyers, a priest and the family of the Nadur men accused of raping a 14-year-old girl tried to prevent her from taking the matter to court.
All the police would say in reply to a list of questions about the matter was that investigations were under way. This is the first official confirmation of the investigations since the bribery allegations were first made by The Sunday Times just under two weeks ago.
The weekly newspaper reported the mother of the girl saying that a lawyer and close relatives of the accused had persuaded her to sign a contract stating that members of her family would not testify in court in return for €7,000 in "psychological support".
The defendants, brothers Peter Paul and Josef Said, stand accused of raping the girl. Mark Lorry Said and Peter Paul Debono were charged with her defilement. They are all under house arrest.
The girl's mother said they were approached by close relatives of the Said brothers and a priest, who acted as an intermediary, shortly after the rape and defilement allegations were made last month.
After the family pressed ahead, on the day the men were arrested, the girl's mother said another approach was made - this time by two different lawyers (one from Gozo and another from Malta) who said they wanted to "see if they could come to an arrangement" over the arraignment of the men. The woman immediately called a family acquaintance and the men left.
The woman said she told the investigating police inspector about the contract and the second attempt to stop the claims from reaching the courts. However, to date, it remains unclear whether an investigation has been launched into the matter. The Times asked whether the police had launched an investigation after being told about the alleged approach, which, if proven, is illegal.
A police spokesman said yesterday that "...investigations have been taken in hand immediately upon receipt of the information. As you may well appreciate, no further information can be furnished at the moment since the investigation is still ongoing".
The case was raised by Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano in a judgment last week through which he imposed stricter bail conditions on the accused. The Chief Justice noted that there seem to have been "manoeuvres by people who had an interest to see that the case does not reach the courts. It seems that, before the accused were charged in court, money changed hands in order for there to be withdrawal of the complaint (in respect of the accused bearing the Said surname)".
Following the judgment and the Sunday Times stories, the matter was also raised in Parliament by Labour MP Evarist Bartolo.
When asked to comment about the issue, a spokesman for the Home Affairs Ministry said: "We are aware that this case is already subject to judicial proceedings. During these proceedings, the court already made reference to the allegations you mentioned. The Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs has full confidence in these proceedings and sees no reason to comment about them or matters that are ancillary to them".
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Comments
I also have my doubts as Ms Hansen has. Let's hope this is not the case of Only in Malta, or should I say only in Gozo.
Poor child.
Let's hope justice does its job well and does not look at faces.
Expected more from you than put in a question like that!!! Surely common sense says it all.
How could you ever even think the accused be under house arrest together with the victim??
I can see your point but the whole idea of justice is not only punishment but to make society a safer place to live in. If the family where to accept the money and not press charges, what then? The perpetrator would still be running around and may be looking out for other children to molest.
Would you feel safe that criminals were made to pay for their actions in a material way but left to roam the country and commit other offences till they have to pay up again when they are caught? I guess not.
Rape is as bad as committing wilful homicide - it is done intentionally and will have serious psycholocal effects. Do you not think that childhood molestation is a suicidal agent in the long run?
I have studied child molestation and forensically it is hideous, imagine psychologically
So rape is acceptable if you can afford it?
You should be ashamed of yourself for even thinking money can help.
Victoria Attard
Part of the psychological support is for justice must be seen being done.
As for the lawyers, they should be disbarred and fully prosecuted.
But for the priest, it is a different picture. In my opinion, the priest looked at this case from the social and psychological point of view. I imagine the priest seeing everybody a loser if the war is fought in courts. The priest tried to save at least four families (those of the accused men) and that of the victim by suggesting to offer her psychological support.
I agree that nobody is above the law and that justice is to be done to everybody but I can see good intentions in the priest's attitude.
However consider this: is not payment of one's money a punishment? Should jail be considered the only punishment? Eur 7,000 is too low, but how about Eur 100,000? If there is the full acceptance of both victim and perpetrators, why shouldn't they come to an equitable arrangement?
I invite your inevitable comments!
If this case is proved, the lawyers should be disbarred and the Priest should be defrocked. He brings discredit to what he represents.
Well said.
If justice prevails, i.e. the rapists, the priest and the lawyers get prosecuted, then finally we can say that Malta has moved forward, and it is not anymore a case of 'WHO YOU KNOW'.
The alleged bribery case by the Lawyer? Well I would accept such things happening, although I do not agree, but for the Priest? Oh NO NEVER.
Lawyers are officers of the court and one expects them to uphold the law, not make a travesty of it.
As for the priest, hebrings further shame to the cloth he wears.
Bill Millam
Los Angeles