More than a year after a Latvian worker was crushed to death during works at Mellieħa’s Seabank Hotel, an inquiry into the case has finally been concluded but its results remain under wraps.
“I can confirm that the magisterial inquiry has been concluded very recently. However, at this stage, it would not be prudent to publish the conclusions,” Attorney General Peter Grech told The Times, when contacted. He added that the law gives him a legal obligation to exercise discretion in the public interest.
“In the present circumstances, as in many other cases where a procès-verbal is under consideration, the media interest in publication does not outweigh the public interest in maintaining the impartiality and the integrity of the process.”
Maksims Artamonovs was the only victim of the tragic and unexplained collapse of a nightclub structure that was being built as part of the renovation of the Seabank Hotel last year, on which hundreds of people were working.
The incident occurred on March 6, 2012, but it took almost 24 hours for the young man’s body to be recovered.
Originally from Riga, Mr Artamonovs, who died aged 27, was his family’s sole breadwinner, supporting his mother, sister and her young daughter, who all lived in Latvia where he was eventually buried.
Seabank Group had offered his sister a job since she was unemployed and even offered to pay all the family’s expenses to be able to work in Malta.
The case was originally assigned to Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani but it was transferred to Magistrate Carol Peralta when she was appointed judge in May 2012.
It was then delayed further when a number of court experts had failed to submit their reports by their one-month deadline. According to article 550A of the Criminal Code, magistrates must produce a report explaining why inquiries have not been concluded after 60 days and at the end of every month until the case is concluded.
Mr Artamonovs was employed by B&B Holdings and Investments Ltd, which was contracted to work on the Seabank Hotel’s refurbishment.