Lack of detention space could force CBSA to release detainees, internal memo warns
The Canada Border Services Agency is scrambling to find space to hold high-risk detainees that are set to be transferred from provincial jails in June.
An independent inquiry into the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia released on Thursday has found that the Maltese state “has to bear responsibility” for the assassination due the culture of impunity that emanated from the highest levels of government.
Caruana Galizia's family had sought the inquiry into the Oct. 16, 2017 car bombing near the family home in Malta. The murder in the small EU country sent shockwaves felt not just in Malta, but throughout Europe.
The inquiry found that there was no evidence that the state played a direct role in the assassination, but said the state “has to bear responsibility ... by creating an atmosphere of impunity, generated from the highest levels in the heart of the administration of (the prime minister's office) and, like an octopus, spread to other entities, like regulatory authorities and the police, leading to a collapse of the rule of law.”
The report said the state and its entities had failed to recognize the real risk to Caruana Galizia's life, given the threats she had lived under, and also failed to take measures to avoid the risk, the report found.
The Caruana Galizia family said in a statement that the inquiry's findings confirm the family's conviction “that her assassination was a direct result of the collapse of the rule of law and the impunity that the state provided to the corrupt network she was reporting on.
“We hope that its findings will lead to the restoration of the rule of law in Malta,” the family added.
Yorgen Fenech, a prominent businessman who had ties with some government officials, is alleged by prosecutors to have been the mastermind of the killing. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of alleged complicity in the killing and allegedly organizing and financing the bombing.
In addition, three men have been charged with carrying out the attack, two with providing explosives and another with being the middleman. Trials are under way. One of those charged with carrying out the attack has admitted his role, as has the middleman.
Joseph Muscat, Malta's former prime minister, stepped down in late 2019 following protests that pressed for the truth about the assassination of the investigative journalist, whose reports targeted Muscat's administration but also the opposition.
In a statement on Facebook, Muscat sought to distance his administration from “the state of impunity” mentioned in the report.
He noted that the arrests of the alleged hitmen within two months and the alleged mastermind a few months later “disproves any impression of impunity that the alleged perpetrators may have had.” And he pointed the finger at previous administrations, during which he said “high profile crimes were committed, but nobody was every prosecuted.”
The inquiry report made a number of recommendations to improve laws and better protect journalists in Malta.
During a press conference, Prime Minister Robert Abela, who took office last year, apologized to Caruana Galizia's family for the state's “serious shortcomings.”
He said earlier that lessons must be taken from the report and reforms need to be pursued “with greater resolve.”
The Canada Border Services Agency is scrambling to find space to hold high-risk detainees that are set to be transferred from provincial jails in June.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Guitar legend Dickey Betts, who co-founded the Allman Brothers Band and wrote their biggest hit, 'Ramblin' Man,' has died. He was 80.
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.
Ontario Provincial Police say they have 'disrupted' an organized crime group that allegedly used an emergency grandparent scam to defraud seniors across Canada out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A Google Drive link allegedly containing 17 tracks that are purportedly from Swift's eagerly awaited "The Tortured Poets Department" album has been making the rounds on the internet in the past day and people are equal parts mad, sad and happy about it.
A motion to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh within Queen’s Park failed to receive unanimous consent Thursday just moments after Ontario Premier Doug Ford reiterated his view that prohibiting the garment in the House is divisive.
The journey to home ownership can be exciting, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew warns about the trappings of becoming 'house poor' -- where an overwhelming portion of your income is devoured by housing costs. Liew offers some practical strategies to maintain better financial health while owning a home.
Calgary police say Winston Campbell, 45, has been charged in the death of a two-year-old girl in 2022.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
A popular highway in Alberta's Banff National Park now has a 'no stopping zone' to help protect two bears.