Bonġu News on 10 October 2022

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[accordion title=Police officers accused of beating foreigners]Two police constables have been arrested and charged with abducting and grievously injuring foreigners in two cases. Rica Mifsud Grech from Floriana and Jurgen Falzon from Santa Venera pleaded not guilty to the charges. A third police officer is expected to be arraigned in court once discharged from Mater Dei hospital. In September, the accused allegedly took foreigners to an abandoned place in Hal Qormi, beat them up and left them there. Early on Sunday, Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa said none of the alleged victims had ever made any reports. Last Friday, other Hamrun police officers reported the alleged crimes to the Professional Standards Unit. The Sunday Times of Malta reported that the constables repeated their crime multiple times over the past weeks. Jurgen Falzon’s defence lawyer argued in court that the accused were young officers working in a tough district. Rica Mifsud Grech’s lawyer questioned the motivation behind the report filed by other officers. Magistrate Joe Mifsud denied their requests for bail, Falzon and Mifsud Grech were remanded in custody.[/accordion]

[accordion title=Putin accuses Ukraine of Crimea bridge blast]Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of causing the explosion that damaged a bridge linking Russia and Crimea. On Sunday, Putin described the explosion a day earlier as an “act of terrorism … carried out by the Ukrainian special services”. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the explosion caused by a truck bomb.[/accordion]

[accordion title=Queen’s villa: Malta turned back to free restoration]The Maltese government turned its back on a UK foundation’s offer to restore Villa Guardamangia. TheShift reported the Cook Foundation had offered the restoration as a Platinum Jubilee gift for Queen Elizabeth II. Plans included raising funds in the UK in order to buy and restore the villa, and turn it into a museum. The late Queen’s former home would have remained in the hands of the Maltese government. Yet, for some unknown reason, the government turned its back on the proposed deal at the final stage. The government eventually purchased the villa using taxpayer funds, and handed it over to Heritage Malta. However, Heritage Malta doesn’t have the €10 million for the villa’s restoration and is now hoping for EU funding.[/accordion]

[accordion title=Exhibition ‘Daphne Eroj Maltija’ launched]Read full article[/accordion]

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