Xghajra mayor accused of harassing ex with 46,000 Facebook messages

Apr 12 2022

Xghajra mayor Neil Attard has been found guilty of harassing his ex-girlfriend by sending her around 46,000 Facebook messages in 2015.

In a case which has been going on for 7 years, the mayor was acquitted of threatening her as well as misusing telecommunications equipment.

39-year-old Attard was deputy mayor at the time, getting accused of harassment and committing further offences whilst under suspended sentence.

The ex-girlfriend testified to having received thousands of phone calls and online message requests from a phone number under the mayor’s name. The peak of the harassment was reached between September and November 2015, with threats starting in May as Attard would allegedly wait behind her front door.

Despite no explicit threats being made, the sender said that he would seek revenge. The court head the police inspector testify as to how Attard admitted to sending the messaged because he claimed he loved her.

The court ruled that the volume of messages the accused sent to the complainant ‘without a doubt created harassment, in that he obsessively sent her messages continuously.’

Being found guilty, Attard was bound under a €2,000 guarantee not to contact the woman or her estranged husband for one year. He was however acquitted of charges relating to the alleged threats.

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Abandoned space to transform into picnic area in Dr Calvagna’s memory

Apr 12 2022

An abandoned Mosta space around 8,500 meters squared will be regenerated into a picnic area for residents to enjoy and in memory of the late Dr Victor Calvagna.

Under the responsibility of Parks Malta, the area will be filled with tress and public benches with constant maintenance. The trees will commemorate the Puttinu founder. Parks Malta will be collaborating with Puttinu Cares to plant a tree for every donation exceeding €300. Trees will also carry a label to commemorate survivors as well as those who passed away due to cancer.

The initiative forms part of Puttinu Cares’ fundraising marathon which is set to take place on Good Friday. The fundraiser will help the NGO to acquire new accommodation in the UK for patients and their families.

The initiative was announced by Minister for the Environment, Energy and Enterprise Miriam Dalli alongside Puttinu Cares CEO Rennie Zerafa as well as Parks Malta Director General Adrian Attard. Minister Dalli said that ‘during difficult times, Dr Calvagna and the team at Puttinu were essential for young patents and their families.

Such initiative will serve as a celebration of work by Dr Calvagna with various patients, with those who unfortunately died and cancer survivors.’ Present for the launch of the project were also Dr Victor Calvagna’s family members.

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Which PN candidates have made it into Parliament via casual elections?

Apr 12 2022

With the Nationalist Party’s casual elections going on, new faces Rebekah Cilia, Stanley Zammit, Graham Bencini, former Labour mayor Charles Azzopardi and Sliema mayor Graziella Attard Previ have been elected.

Cilia won Robert Arrigo’s vacated seventh districted seat while Zammit won Grech’s vacated seat in the fifth. Graham Bencini won Mark Anthony Sammut’s vacated seat in the tenth district, with Charles Azzopardi winning Ryan Callus’ seventh district seat.

Interestingly, Graziella Attard Previ’s victory of Joe Giglio’s vacated ninth district seat marked the end of Jason Azzopardi’s tenure in Parliament. Meanwhile, Karol Aquilina and Carm Mifsud Bonnici have also been revealed to be re-elected to parliament.

Vacated seats are occupied through ballot reviews, with second preference votes distributed to unelected candidates and the frontrunners of which process occupy the vacated seats by already-elected MPs.

The newly-elected MPs join the likes of the Nationalist Party faces Alex Borg, Jerome Caruana Cilia, Darren Carabott and Mark Anthony Sammut, all of which put on a considerable showing during the 2022 elections, with Borg himself even outpacing PN veteran Chris Said.

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Jason Azzopardi fails election as Karol Aquilina wins seat

Apr 12 2022

As frontbencher Karol Aquilina managed to win a seat in parliament during the Nationalist Party’s casual election, Jason Azzopardi failed to make it into parliament.

After the two politicians failed to make it into parliament through the general election, concerns were raised by the public after discovering that they were both contesting the casual election.

The zeitgeist of many in Malta was that since the two politicians were clearly ‘unwanted’ as could be seen in the general election, the two should not have contested the casual election.

It seems as though however that Aquilina will be returning to parliament, but Jason will not. This correlates with the call to not re-elect the ‘Blue Heroes’. This refers to a faction of the PN which wanted Adrian Delia to step down as Opposition leader, despite him being elected during the general election.

#MaltaDaily