Updated | Appeals court confirms compensation for Karin Grech family
Appeals court says Grech family had been victim of politically-motivated murder
11 April 2011, 12:00am
Julia Farrugia
Julia Farrugia
2 min read
Updated with Labour reaction a 4:44pm
The Court of Appeals has upheld a judgement by the First Hall of the Civil Court that awarded compensation of €419,000 to the relatives of Karin Grech, who was murdered by a letter bomb addressed to her father Professor Edwin Grech at the height of the 1977 doctors’ strike.
Professor Edwin Grech, his wife Pearl and their son Kevin were asking the government of Malta for a compensation of €582,343 (Lm250,000) for damages incurred over the brutal murder of their daughter Karin, killed by a letter bomb addressed to her father.
The Appeals Court confirmed that the murder of Grech had been politically motivated.
In a statement, the Labour party said the decision to appeal the first court's judgement had been taken by the Cabinet of ministers, which did not agree with the Court's statement that the murder of Karin Grech had been politically motivated as a result of Prof. Edwin Grech's service to the Labour government in 1977.
"This puts the responsibility of such a decision on the prime minister... the PL had instantly expressed shock at the government's insensitivity, because it offended people of good will and the Grech family," Labour said.
The Grech family had originally claimed that their fundamental human right to freedom from discrimination was violated because the government had failed to make an ex-gratia payment to them as compensation following the death of Karin Grech 30 years ago.
“Initially I didn’t accept the government’s conditions for compensation, which demanded that we do not press on with declaring the murder to be ‘politically-motivated’,” Grech had told MaltaToday in November 2010.
Grech was killed by a letter bomb explosion in December 1977 at the height of the industrial dispute between the then Labour government and the doctors, when Prof Grech – a strike breaker – had continued to work at St Luke’s Hospital. The murder remains unsolved.
The compensation case started in January 2008 in the First Hall of the Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction. The family argued that while other families have received compensation from the government, this measure was not applied with the Grechs. The half-million euro claim was discussed in meetings held between the Grechs’ legal representatives and government representatives.
Dr Alex Perici Calscione and Dr Manuel Mallia represented the Grechs.
Julia Farrugia is a former editor of Illum newspaper.
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Oqbra imbajda! Imbasta hafna qdusija! Ma tridts tkun xi genju biex tittendi li l-qtil kien wiehed terroristiku u politiku! Din mhux gebla jew farsa tal-liberta kienet, imma qtil krudili ta l-innocenti; l-istess ghal Raymond Caruana miet ghal xejn miskin.
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I remember the 1980's PN mass meetings, I used to hear , when i used to attend , Edward fenech adami saying that he knows who killed her, and that when he be in goverment he will say who it was.
when he came PM years passed and nothing was changed, case remained unsolved. he said" Cause of many years passed and evedence were kinda gone (something like that)
but you used to say , that you know whom it was not that you will investigate, )
now you are in your old age, still you did not say, and i think still you will not say. what were those that you used to say , political propoganda or what? I
guess we will never know the truth.
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Whilst the family of Raymond Caruana were given compensation twice, without asking gonziPN had the gall to even appeal a court judgement.
It is now final Karen's Grech murder was politically motivated shame on all those connected to this infamous case even though up till now nobody has been brought foward.
But God's judgement would surely be served and may the perpetrators rot in hell.
