Robert Abela Rejects Call For Public Inquiry Into Construction Site Death Of JeanPaul Sofia
Prime Minister Robert Abela has dismissed an MP’s call for a public inquiry into the death of 20-year-old JeanPaul Sofia at a Kordin construction site, suggesting it would clash with ongoing investigations.
PN MP Jerome Caruana Cilia submitted a parliamentary question to Abela, asking whether he will appoint a public inquiry into the tragedy that occurred on 3rd December 2022.
However, Abela turned down this call.
“A magistral inquiry is ongoing and other relevant authorities are investigating the case,” the Prime Minister said. “If we truly want justice to be served, these institutions should be allowed to work in peace. I urge the institutions to give this case maximum importance so that swift justice can be done for the sake of the victim’s family and society.”
The government had used similar arguments to dismiss calls for a public inquiry into the 2017 assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, before eventually succumbing to local and international pressure and entrusting three current and retired judges with carrying out a public inquiry.
In 2021, the public inquiry ruled that the state should shoulder responsibility for creating an atmosphere of impunity, generated by the highest levels of Castille, which paved the way for Caruana Galizia’s murder.
PN MP Jerome Caruana Cilia
Sofia tragically died when a construction site collapsed on 3rd December and it took CPD officials 15 hours to retrieve his body from the rubble.
Police have launched an investigation but have yet to charge anyone in court, and Moviment Graffitti has announced a justice protest in front of the Planning Ministry for this Saturday.
Caruana Cilia has previously suggested that the authorities are trying to bury the case so as not to annoy certain “big shots” with access to power.
“Some privileged people think that they’re gods, that they can do as they please and that they’re above the law,” he said in Parliament last month.
“They believe this because they know that people in power are ready to defend them or are even directly in business with them. It’s useless changing the laws if we don’t grab the bull by the horns, seriously address this crisis and act properly with these cowboys.”
The construction site in Kordin where JeanPaul Sofia lost his life last December
The construction site was being developed into a timber factory on land leased to Lands Authority official Kurt Buhagiar and turnkey business owner Matthew James Schembri.
Both men have had serious brushes with the law in the past.
Buhagiar was arrested in Sicily in 2009 and charged with smuggling migrants from Libya. Schembri was last year charged with hiring two Albanian hitmen to assault his ex-wife’s father as he was walking along the Sliema front and is pleading not guilty.
The project architect has been listed as Adriana Zammit, who works for Infrastructure Malta, while the Shift News identified the contractor as Serbian national Miromir Milosovic.
Cover photo: Left: Prime Minister Robert Abela, Right: JeanPaul Sofia
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