A spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (the UNHCR) made a statement in Geneva today on the situation in the Mediterranean Sea. The statement was made in the aftermath of the illegal pushback of 57 migrants to Libya after the Easter weekend following an incident where 12 people were left to die [...]

The author, John Vassallo, wanted this preamble to appear with this new series of articles: "As a regular contributor to The Times of Malta, I have realised that a series of recent articles since February 2020 have been shelved. Whist respecting editorial independence I have a feeling that they have been refused either because my [...]

I am starting a series of articles based on extracts from the Egrant Inquiry report, as I am sure most will not bother to read through 1501 pages, leading, in my opinion, to only one credible fact – a pandemic of a deadly corruption virus, injected into the fabric of society by the crony state [...]

Edward Zammit Lewis said he thought Charles Mercieca was “insensitive” when the young lawyer switched from working at the prosecutor’s office to the defence team of Yorgen Fenech. Overnight. Without working his notice. It was that, but it does feel like an understatement. The PN Opposition spokesman Jason Azzopardi yesterday said the episode smacked of [...]

There’s mounting concern again that after the surge in November 2019 when Yorgen Fenech was arrested, the momentum on the shuffling feet of our state institutions in their attempt to get to the bottom of the truth in the case of the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia is stalling again. Some of this is no [...]

It’s an old slasher movie trope. You think the villain is dead. The vampire has been shot through the forehead with a silver bullet dipped in holy water. The zombie has been torn from limb to limb. The pervert with the ski mask has been electrocuted. It is finally time to release all the piled [...]

The Council of Europe's rapporteur on the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the rule of law in Malta, Pieter Omtzigt, expressed concern that Malta's government and opposition are attempting to push through institutional reforms without wide consultation in society. “When I visited Malta in February, I was encouraged to hear from the government that [...]

International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda yesterday reported to the United Nations Security Council on the situation in Libya describing the treatment of migrants detained there. “My Office is aware of allegations of serious violations in many prisons and detention facilities throughout Libya,” including facilities under the authority of the Ministry of Interior of the [...]

Evarist Bartolo has taken his slithering, conniving, weaselly cunning to the foreign office exporting his particular brand of Maria l-Maws subterfuge and deceit and seeking to package it as diplomacy. Our country’s diplomacy. He’s picked up a standard racist troll’s taunt “daħħalhom id-dar tiegħek lis-suwed, ħelu” and sent it to the Pope. The argument is [...]

First, use the law to flout the law. Joseph Muscat’s government kept doing that all the time, pulling out legal loopholes and minor legal detail in order to suffocate the real intent of the law. They would say Jason Micallef and Tony Zarb were exercising “free speech” while they abused official power to intimidate and [...]

Sent in by someone I know who prefers to call themselves Archie Elle. By introducing an obligation to wear face masks the government has to face a free market mechanism from page one of the economic school book: demand and supply determine the price. Thus, if additional demand is created when supply is already short, [...]

The police department is beefing up its anti-financial crimes unit. The responsibilities of the unit are enormous. It is split in four sub-units: economic crimes, anti-money laundering, financial crimes analysis and blockchain analysis. Although we would never have a department bearing the name, because people might get the idea that we have a specific problem [...]

Continues from Part 1, linked here. In this article, I am writing on some of the key points highlighted in the second and third six-monthly reports of the Competent Person, together with my observations. These two reports were addressed to the Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services and Digital Economy, on 24 March 2020, and 14 [...]

Do you remember Robert Abela saying migrants were not being rescued at sea at all because we needed to focus on Covid-19? Do you remember when that ‘policy’ changed to a determination not to bring anyone on shore in Malta even if they were saved, and that too was because we needed to focus on [...]

Robert Abela was reported to have spoken to the press as to what he gave in sworn testimony to a criminal inquiry into his conduct this morning. Criminal inquiries are supposed to be confidential affairs and witnesses are habitually cautioned they are not to state what they have testified in the inquiry. Even the fact [...]

If anyone else but the prime minister was in a gathering like this in Republic Street this morning, they'd be facing a hefty fine for organising a public event in spite of the pandemic instructions. And the journalists present would be fined for attending the gathering. There isn't a mask in sight though the prime [...]

Alarmphone published a detailed report which shows in detail in what ways, and how often, Alarm Phone sought to mobilise rescue by alerting the Maltese authorities. "In total, Alarm Phone reached out to RCC Malta 42 times: 34 times via the phone, though getting through only 11 times (mostly without receiving any information), and eight [...]

Italian NGO Mediterranea this morning wrote to Malta’s government saying it has been carefully following the case of a wooden boat in distress with approximately 90 people on board, reported to all concerned authorities by the organization Alarm Phone - Watch The Med in position 34° 37' N - 12° 27' E at 22:35 CEST [...]

The government will never admit it but we’re in a bind of their making. Malta has squandered its diplomatic credentials and we are now kicking migrants as if they are to blame for Joseph Muscat and Robert Abela. Another 90 migrants are presently taking in water from the sea in our search and rescue area. [...]

UPDATED at 08:44. See below for details of the 'rescue' operation. A wooden boat carrying 90 migrants is presently within Maltese territorial waters. Reports from the location say the boat is in a precarious state with a real risk of toppling over. The passengers include at least one pregnant woman and some children. Alarm Phone [...]