Sunday, 4th January 2009
No charges over attempts to buy rape girl's silence
Key witnesses insist they have not been interviewed
Chief Justice Vincent DeGaetano had said in court that there seemed to be manoeuvres by people who had an interest to see that the case does not reach the courts.
No charges will be brought against the lawyers or any other intermediary involved in the attempts to buy the silence of the family of a 14-year-old Nadur girl at the centre of rape allegations.
In a curt letter sent to The Sunday Times responding to an article published last November, police said they had investigated the case and found no "breaches of the law".
However, the family insist that neither they, nor other key witnesses, have ever been interviewed by police over claims that at least two attempts were made to persuade them not to pursue the case.
When contacted yesterday, Labour MP Evarist Bartolo, who has put forward parliamentary questions about the case in recent months, was scathing about the police's decision.
"I think the law is being used to protect those who are strong and powerful rather than those who are weak and vulnerable. It continues to protect the culture of omertá (code of silence) we have in our country."
However, Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici declined to comment for fear of prejudicing the rape case itself.
"As you are aware, these allegations are closely linked to the case of the alleged defilement of a girl in Nadur. The latter case is still sub judice and it would be improper to comment on this matter," he said.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici said the ministry hoped that any offences related to this case that were exposed during the course of the court proceedings would be pursued by relevant authorities "to the fullest extent allowed".
The Sunday Times had revealed the approach on the girl's family last September and reported the victim's mother saying that a lawyer, close relatives of the accused, and a priest who acted as an intermediary, had persuaded her to sign a contract stating that members of her family would not take the matter to court in return for €7,000 in "psychological support".
Of the four defendants, brothers Peter Paul and Josef Said were accused of raping the girl, while Mark Lorry Said and Peter Paul Debono were charged with her defilement. They are all under house arrest.
The family eventually pressed ahead in spite of the contract but on the day the men were due to be arraigned, 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". 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, the family maintains that over the past months during which the investigations were going on, neither they, nor other key witnesses who could corroborate their version of the facts, were ever interviewed.
The police were asked to confirm or deny this claim and to say whether they had reviewed the document referred to by the family, but their only response was to say that police reports are not public documents.
One lawyer who spoke to The Sunday Times said it was not necessarily illegal for the defendants to reach an agreement with the victim in which she, or her guardians, agreed not to file a complaint. But it would be illegal for an agreement to bar the girl from taking the witness stand.
"That is from a legal standpoint; obviously, from an ethical point of view it's a different matter altogether... even approaching the victim's family without them being assisted by a lawyer is questionable," he said.
The family do not have a copy of the contract as they were never given one, but the second approach by the two lawyers, according to the family, was made when their clients were about to be arraigned.
The issue of interference was raised by Chief Justice Vincent DeGaetano in a judgment last October through which he imposed stricter bail conditions on the defendants.
The Chief Justice said that there seemed 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)".
Mr Bartolo said: "I'm no legal expert, but surely the police must have taken note of the comments made by the Chief Justice."
"From an ethical standpoint I am very disappointed... There are a number of areas where rather than change the law to deal with certain situations which we know are taking place in our society, we use the law to hide them. It's symptomatic of a sick society," he said.
In parliament, Mr Bartolo had asked the Home Affairs Minister last November to reveal the lawyers' names and whether any action would be taken over the family's claims.
The minister did not comment then either, saying there were pending court proceedings.
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Comments
Are certain crimes pursuable by the police even though no report was made by the victim? Is rape one of these crimes?
No it is not.
An assistant headmaster in a primary state school who repeatedly visited the classes of 7-8 year old children telling them - or rather "bragging" at them - that when he was their age he frequently suffered abuse and bullying by other children at school but he never used to report such things to his parents.
Family members discouraging repeatedly abused employees from reporting an abusive manager or colleague because "It will make things worse" or "because you will get the whole family into trouble"
Employees being made redundant after reporting abuse, harassment, corruption, unsafe work practices to the authorities.
Mhux hekk?
And thank God for that, because in that case, the girl's guardians or parents would have also been liable for prosecution for signing the contract in question, as much as the lawyers.
How could Chief Justice Vincent DeGaetano find it necessary to impose stricter bail conditions because of "manoeuvres", and then key witnesses claim not being interviewed, while the police have not found grounds to bring up charges?? This is the Chief Justice we are talking about here, who would have been sure about such information.
Flabbergasting!
Are certain crimes pursuable by the police even though no report was made by the victim? Is rape one of these crimes? If yes, meaning police are obliged to prosecute, then attempting to buy silence is not preventing the course of justice to take place?
Shame on whoever tries to cover up such cases, especially if this involves people of trust.
This case is not elective. The law was been broken its provisions must be followed fully to render unto Caesar.... otherwise, minors are not protected from perverts, be they relatives or not, and any rich tyrant can do this sort of thing knowing he can afterwards buy his victim's silence.
If the four are convicted, the family can sue in civil court for damages sustained (remember O J Simpson- laws don't differ that much because they are based on commonsense-).
If the accusations are proved, this is a very serious crime that no suspended sentence will satisfy. People mustn't think they can rape, if only once.
I would wish to see
1. a full investigation
2. anyone who tried to pervert the course of justice face the full rigours of the law.
3. the girl and her family not be seen as mercenary by capitulating.
4. the girl and her family instituting a civil case for mega-buck damages.
Just think about though:- how could the police arrive at a conclusion, as you said, whether these lawyers crossed the line of legal or non legal, when the police themselves did not bother to interview the family of the girl allegedly raped?
it just doesn't make sense.
However no one seems to have brought up the difficulty that the Police face in trying to bring a case against any participant that steps up to the fine line of legality without actually LEGALLY crossing it.
Quite often you will hear of cases being "settled out of court"; probably the most easily remembered cases that come to mind refer to scandals associated with child abuse.
Compensatory pay offs, as unpleasant as they may appear, are not uncommon world wide and it would seem that they are quite legal although I think they are totally immoral and indeed can quite easily be the cause of a false claim of abuse.
I just wonder how come the church is silent, the minister siad he cannot speak, police don't investigate key witnesses.... the list goes on.
And this when they all know that a girl of 14 years was allegedly raped!! Just imagine if this girl was your daughter?!
And nobody ever resigns. I am also not happy that MLP is not more vociferious on such cases... we need a stronger opposition. I admire Evarist Bartolo - but this is not enough. People have to be sacked of negligence and not conducting their work properly (at a minimum).
I had to get the police to deal with three louts who insulted my (foreign) girlfriend suggesting lewd practices. This was at noon, outside our apartment, and they worked in a car rental three houses down the road. When I came over and told them that it wasn't okay, that she was shaking and scared, they laughed it off, pushed me out of the garage and then threatened to stab me in the head with a weapon they had if I didn't go away.
I would like to say that this is an isolated incident, but it was not, and I guarantee you that I was extremely civil. Maltese men can display a horrific attitude to women.
Of course, I generalize and I know that most of those who comment here are above that, and I do have many decent male friends.
No one should be untouchable in this nation, but sadly, politicians can do whatever they want...
I see you have put on your boxing gloves to duke it out with anyone who does not agree with you!
As for your comment about the USA, I would be more than happy to debate with you anything related to this country but on a site called timesofmalta.com, isn't it logical to expect people to debate issues related to Malta? Jien Malti u ciittadin Malti daqshekk.
Bill Millam
Los Angeles
1. Malta has 400,000 people, while the U.S. has over 300 million
2. Instances of violence in the U.S. are widely reported and investigated not swept under the carpet.
However, if it makes you feel better thinking that Malta is heaven and the rest of the world is hell, go for it buddy!
In now way to excuse what has allegedly happened in this case, but can you name one single country where such things do not happen? Your country perhaps? And by the way, there is more justice in some Arab states than there is in some european states.
emnuel cortis
Good to remind us of the whiskey miracle. One up on Our Lord who only turned water into wine. This one turned water into whiskey.
P Pace
Independence day was a false ceremony because everything remained controlled by the British Government. Freedom day liberated us from the foreign British Military Base.
Bill Millam
The dark days in Malta were not in the 70's and 80's but were in the 60' under the PN and have been here again since the PN went into power in 1987. And you should be the last one to talk from the USA where murder, rape, theft and other terrible crimes are the order of the day.
(assuming you are a foreigner) If we were an Arab state, you wouldn't have been given the chance to criticise us..... and you wouldn't have dared passing such comments.
It would be highly appreciable if you'd pass constructive comments, in this manner you're not portraying a very good image of yourself!!
Shame on the politicians and the legal establishment for allowing this. How may I ask are our police suppose to carry out their duties when their job is not rewarded by having criminals put in jail for a long time based on the crimes they commit.
How do you think parents abroad will feel about sending their daughters to Malta to learn English? Is Malta a European state or an Arab state?
Sure that no justice system is 100% correct ;
But I tell you two things:-
1st:- UK is a big country when compared to Malta - and the cases of "miss-judgement" are very much a rarity (unlike Malta).
2nd. Most importantly; Police are accountable. When they shot dead the Brazilian by mistake - they apologised and they were taken to court.... with the case still being pending.
As you siad, when "new evidence" come to light, people were then "liberated";
Of course nothing is perfect. But this is a stark difference with having cases so obvious (such as this one illustrated by the Times) and nothing happens. Everything is hidden, and silence prevails.
There is a difference between a genuine mistake being done by the justice system or police, and on the other hand Police purposfully not doing their duty to follow leads which have been made public by journalists and even chief justice officers. That is not a mistake.
Lawyers are officers of the court and they are supposed to UPHOLD the law and ensure that justice is done.
What on earth is going on in Malta, I hope it is not returning to the dark days of the 70s and 80s where the rule of the jungle IS THE LAW.
Bill Millam
Los Angeles
More recently we have had the case of an unarmed Brazilian man being shot dead by several police officers on the London underground after which the officers fabricated the evidence to cover their own backs. At the inquest into the mans death the Coroner stated that the evidence that one officer gave to the court was lies.
This encourages other abused girls and women to remain silent and
deal with their pyscological trauma alone instead of seeking social and legal advise.
Such a family should be given support especially the girl. It is a shame to protect criminals.
We are talking about an allegedly RAPED GIRL!!!! Gess...I am sure it wouldn't have been the same should she have been your own daughter!!!
I come for a "Labour Party" background, and "the times" is not my natural choice or ally. But I must say, a Big well done, in exposing this case. It has shown maturity and journalism at its best, and ability to stand up for what we all should believe in "social justice and democratic values" - whether nationalists or labour sympathisers.
Sometimes I think that we Maltese did a big mistake to get "Independence" and "freedom" from the Bristish, as clearly we cannot govern ourselves in a fair way. We should have remained part of the Brisitish rule, as at least they have a good justice system and things like this don;t happen in the UK.
Freedom and Independence day celebrations are a fake ceremony when I read of such cases.
Does this mean that the chief justice was mistaken when he said what he said? was he prejudicing the rape case when he spoke? The people demand answers not as a previlege but as a right. Until and unless such answers are forthcoming we are free to reach our own conclusions. finally these cases prove that some citizens are more equal than others.
I am loosing faith in our country; One only had to see what happened with JPO case to understand what justice we really have....
When will the masses sing the national anthem with pride again?
God bless our omerta. It has become part of our national heritage.
Why do these investigating people think that we are all stupid?