The mishandled Martin Galea case

The Office of the Prime Minister was unaware that Maltese national Martin Galea had gone missing in Libya and was made aware of his disappearance by the press late in the week on Friday 25 July, contrary to what was stated in parliament.

The foreign affairs ministry had been handling Galea’s disappearance independently and had actively involved Tripoli-based ambassador Mannie Galea and Arab-speaking consul Marisa Farrugia. But somehow, news of Galea’s disappearance was not relayed to the Prime Minister’s Office. Privately, OPM staffers said they were shocked to learn the news of his disappearance from the press.

The news of the disappearance led the Office of the Prime Minister to take command of the whole rescue operation with principal permanent secretary Mario Cutajar heading the operation.

Consul Marisa Farrugia’s involvement in the case was also a surprise to many in government circles, since she had been under police investigation in connection with allegations of visas in the Tripoli consulate being fast-tracked against payment.

For several weeks, Farrugia had not reported for work at the foreign ministry pending a police investigation that started under former police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit. She had been questioned about allegations on her role in the alleged visa scam for Libyan nationals applying for entry into Malta.

Police sources who spoke to MaltaToday said that it was unclear why the investigations under Peter Paul Zammit were never concluded, although one suggested that the investigation “appeared to be have been carried out half-heartedly” by the former police commissioner. Farrugia had been recalled from Tripoli by the police to answer their questions and had not been allowed to return by the foreign ministry. Although she was not suspended from the foreign ministry she could not report for work. But one of the first steps acting police commissioner Ray Zammit took upon replacing Peter Paul Zammit was to conclude the investigation: due to a lack of any hard evidence implicating Farrugia, the consul was asked to report to work, and immediately was roped in to replace Maltese consul officials in the Tripoli embassy who had been withdrawn over the visa scam allegations in the weeks leading to the fall of the Gaddafi regime.

On her return to work, Marisa Farrugia’s extensive knowledge of Tripoli’s complex political network and her fluency in the Arabic language left the foreign ministry no option but to use her services.

Contrasting reports of who was crucial in identifying Martin Galea’s whereabouts started in MaltaToday’s report, which named the Libyan interlocutors contacted by envoy Mannie Galea to track down Galea. Khaled Ebrahim Ben Nasan stated on record that it was a Zintani militiamen, Ayman al Madani, who also spoke to MaltaToday, who located Galea after having been captured in the criminal swamp of the Warshefana tribal region.

But Ebrahim’s claims that the Maltese oil worker had not been abducted in Libya, but taken in for “his own safety” during a shelling, contrasted with claims by Galea himself who says he was subjected to physical violence. Even then however, Galea’s own claims of having been forced to hit himself with a wooden stick that had spikes in it in, appeared contradicted by the government’s insistence that medical staff who examined Galea on arrival found no visible signs of physical violence.

Indeed, after Martin Galea’s arrival at MIA airport, the prime minister’s spokesman Kurt Farrugia appeared unwilling to confirm that Galea was indeed abducted. It was only last Thursday, when Mario Cutajar addressed a news briefing on the day that Martin Galea released an interview to the Malta Independent, that the government declared that – based on the debriefing with the Malta Security Services – Galea had been abducted.

Again however, Cutajar reiterated that there was no physical evidence of any harm done to Galea, leaving observers perplexed at the harrowing detail of Galea’s claims.

Playing down the abduction claim, the Libyan businessman Khaled Ebrahim Ben Nasan – who presented himself as a representative of a ‘sub-committee for the fight against corruption and smuggling in Libya’ – claimed it was ambassador Mannie Galea who asked him to locate Martin Galea. “When Martin Galea was found, I called the ambassador at 4:45am to let him know that he was alive and well.”

In the hours that followed, arrangements were made for Galea to be transferred to the consulate in Tripoli – and the Zintanis escorted him to the consulate. It is understood that the Zintanis suggested it would be much safer to take Galea across the Tunisian border and into the hands of Maltese diplomats in Tunis. But the Maltese government insisted that they would prefer it if Galea was taken to the Maltese consulate and left Libya by air from Mitiga airport.

On his return to Malta, Martin Galea went out of his way to specifically thank the government and consul Marisa Farrugia for “saving [his] life” although not the Prime minister by name.

The scene at MIA played out the apparent rift between the OPM and the foreign ministry: George Vella, foreign minister, hugged Marisa Farrugia as she walked onto the apron – she flew on the Medavia flight back with Martin Galea – while Joseph Muscat restricted himself to shake Galea’s hand and address a brief press conference.

Martin Galea appeared composed as he relayed his gratitude to the people involved in his rescue, his relief and glee, unburdened by the trauma on show during his interview four days later.

The prime minister appeared unwilling to turn the media coup to his own benefit, to take credit for the rescue of a Maltese national captured by a criminal gang in Libya.

“We chose our words carefully to protect Galea’s life especially when we didn’t have the full picture of the situation,” spokesperson Kurt Farrugia said two days later. “We were still evaluating the situation, and the word ‘abduction’ was used by the media. We always made it clear that the government never had direct contact with whoever took him.”

In between the visa allegations – which are borne by frustrations amongst Libyans that their passports were being held for months on end at the Tripoli consulate – and the lack of information on the circumstances of the abduction, the relations between the OPM and the foreign ministry have obfuscated the way the Martin Galea crisis was handled by top government staff and aides.