Updated November 4, 7am
Eleven of the victims of the 2015 Paqpaqli car accident, in which 23 people were injured, have received compensation in a settlement agreed with the Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation.
This means that six lawsuits filed in court last year against the President of Malta, members of her staff and other persons connected with the organisation of the ill-fated event are expected to be withdrawn in the coming weeks.
The foundation issued a press release shortly before 8pm yesterday after this newspaper had sent questions on Friday, which remained unanswered. It did not specify the amount but said it was being paid by the insurance company that covered the event and by the government.
The Sunday Times of Malta undersands that at least €3.5 million have been shared among the victims in question, under an agreement with the Office of the President, who chairs the foundation. The MCCFF is the national entity dedicated to raising funds for needy individuals and charitable organisations.
In October 2015, 23 people were injured, some of them seriously, when a super car driven at high speed veered off a Ħal Far track and crashed into spectators at the Paqpaqli għall-Istrina charity event, organised to raise funds for the Community Chest Fund. Some of those injured are still undergoing treatment today.
Lawsuits were filed in December 2017 following the continued refusal by President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and the foundation to take any responsibility for the event’s organisation. They had insisted they could not be made to pay damages as this was “a third-party event” which had nothing to do with the President or the charity organisation she leads.
However, there appeared to have been a change of heart following an embarrassing court sitting earlier this year. Two members of the MCCFF board admitted that meetings were held at San Anton Palace to coordinate what was to be stated in court. MCCFF lawyers immediately changed tack and started informal negotiations with the victims in order to reach an out-ofcourt settlement.
A source close to the Office of the President told The Sunday Times of Malta that according to a written agreement prepared by the President’s lawyers, the funds were disbursed to the victims according to the level of disability they suffered and “on condition that the law suits against the President and members of her staff are withdrawn without any prejudice”.
On Saturday night the President said that “no amount of money could ever make up for the suffering which the victims endured”, but she hoped the compensation settlement would provide them with “a modicum of relief ”.
Compensation for the victims has no bearing on the case being heard by the criminal court which is ongoing, the President’s spokesman said. A magisterial inquiry into the tragedy, led by then Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, had exonerated President Coleiro Preca from any responsibility, finding that she was in no way involved in the organisation or preparatory meetings for the event. But the victims submitted claims for damages and instituted civil law suits for damages against the President, her staff and the organising committee.
Sources at the President’s office said that while Ms Coleiro Preca had originally been advised not to give in to the victims’ demands, and to continue to insist that the event was not directly organised by the MCCFF, “the situation changed when things started to reflect badly on the President’s office in the court room”.
In a court sitting in front of Mr Justice Wenzu Mintoff, hearing the civil cases, the President testified that she had nothing to do with the organisation of the tragic fund-raiser. She maintained that despite the fact that the preparatory meetings were held inside San Anton Palace – her official residence – and members of her staff took part in them, she had no responsibility as her staff members were acting on a voluntary basis.
However, in a dramatic turn of events, President Emeritus George Abela declared in court that during his time in office he felt that the Paqpaqli event fell completely under his responsibility. “At the end of the day I believed that responsibility fell squarely upon my shoulders,” he told the court.
In another court sitting, two members of the MCCFF’s Board of Administrators, Gordon Pace and Lisa Brooke, testified that the President’s chief of staff John Camilleri had coordinated meetings at San Anton Palace for the foundation’s witnesses ahead of hearings on the incident.
Unreported transcripts of the court evidence, published by the Times of Malta, showed that Mr Justice Mintoff intervened a number of times to remind Dr Brooke that she was under oath and bound to tell the whole truth. Once the judge warned Dr Brooke, who represents the MCCFF in Gozo that he did not believe a thing she was saying.
Dr Brooke had been insisting that the ill-fated event was “a third party event” and not part of the MCCFF’s charity programme of events but later admitted she had taken part in two meetings at San Anton Palace during which the court procedures were discussed.
She said that during the meetings, which were coordinated by the President’s chief of staff, they were told that the Paqpaqli event was “a third party event”.