Gibraltar Olive Press - Issue 72

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Est. 1946

www.gibraltarolivepress.com LT D

FREE

Cookshop, Household Goods, General Hardware, Beach Accessories & more 46 Irish Town, Gibraltar Tel: +350 200 75188 Email: bia@gibraltar.gi Facebook: GibraltarBIA

‘BUTCHER’: Assad Continues on Page 2

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Entering the ring THE Rock is all set for a new political heavyweight. It comes after local boxing hero Kaelan Joyce joined the GSD opposition party. The amateur fighter - who was known for his aggressive style in the ring - will be no stranger to throwing punches at the opposition... which from now on is Chief Minister Fabian Picardo. “I don’t like the way Gibraltar is going in general, it all needs to change,” he told the Olive Press this week. “I don’t mince my words and I’m not your run-of-

Outrage as Gib leader spends ÂŁ30,000 of public money on personal lawsuits By Laurence Dollimore

Reveal

He also claimed a RGP police investigation into the affair was continuing but that he could not reveal any more details at this stage. He also confirmed that Assad had applied for Cat-2 status on the Rock in 1999, but that it had been turned down. Al-Assad, the uncle of current Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, is being probed in Spain, France and the UK for money laundering, corruption and tax evasion.

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Vol. 3 Issue 72 www.gibraltarolivepress.com June 6th - June 19th 2018

ASSAD: NOT A FIRE SALE! FABIAN Picardo has been forced to defend the controversial sale of 6-9 Europort in a heated Parliament debate. In a long ten-minute statement he answered seven questions tabled by the opposition about the transaction, which would benefit Syria’s Rifaat al-Assad. In particular, the Chief Minister insisted it did ‘not appear to be a fire sale’ and confirmed that he had personally been working with the French and Spanish authorities, who have been investigating Assad, for years.

The Rock’s only free local paper

IsJune this most 6thSpain’s - June 19th 2018 scenic sofa?

THE Chief Minister has spent an alarming £6,000 of taxpayers’ money on threatening legal letters this year alone. And Fabian Picardo has issued at least ten separate writs against individuals since he came to power, it has emerged. In total, the GSLP leader has spent £29,978 on legal letters threatening residents with lawsuits since 2013. Each was ordered to stop writing and delete ‘defamatory’ comments about him online, the majority on Facebook. Gibraltar’s leader - who came to power in 2011 - was forced to release the figures after being asked by the GSD opposition party, following complaints. “We seem to have a Chief Minister who is ever-so-sensitive and out of sync with the attitudes of other leaders in Western society,” insisted

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the-mill politician. “I’m a genuine guy who cares about Gibraltar and its people, I’m not entering politics for money, I’m passionate about it.” His announcement that he was joining the GSD executive committee received hundreds of likes on Twitter. “It went much better than expected, but I am like Marmite, you either love me or hate me.” The son of former Chief Minister Sir Peter Caruana has also joined the party.

We are always watching THE LEGAL EAGLE TOTALS SPENT 2013/14 - ÂŁ5602 2014/15 - ÂŁ7196 2015/16 - ÂŁ3036 2016/17 - ÂŁ6056 2017/18 - ÂŁ2031 2018 (to date) - ÂŁ6057

Careful

EMBATTLED: Fabian Picardo a spokesman from the GSD. “And this from a Chief Minister who complained about

individuals express themselves without a filter of truth or any understanding of the need to ensure that the things they say are not libellous of others.” He said some of the comments included threats to him and his family. The GSD later uploaded a post on its Facebook page, asking: “Is it right the Chief Minister should use your money to defend his reputation?”

the previous administration being dictatorial.” The figures were released after he was grilled in parliament on the matter by both Roy Clinton and former GSD leader Daniel Feetham. They showed that Picardo had spent this figure on letters to six local Gibraltarians and four individuals outside of the Rock, via law

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firm Hassans. It is not known if he has taken out any personal lawsuits in addition. Picardo defended the legal letters, insisting it was in the ‘public interest of Gibraltar’, that its ministers should ‘defend their reputations when confronted with defamatory and untrue allegations’. “Too often on social media,

It added: “Careful what you write on social media, you are being watched.” Residents reacting to the clip said they were ‘gobsmacked’. “Unbelievable,” wrote one, “they should pay for it out of their own pocket. Why use the taxpayers money? It’s shameful, the opposition should act.”

COMMENT: Read all about it (IF YOU CAN)

he announcement comes after the Olive Press was ordered to remove its stand from the border. We were suddenly told to remove the long-standing holder from the pedestrian entrance into the Rock ‘on orders from the Chief Minister’, a fact later confirmed by one of our journalists. Fortunately for us, the tour-

PAPERS: At Gib border

ist office kiosk continues to stock the popular free paper - the Rock’s only genuinely independent voice. A pile still greets any tourists or business person crossing into the enclave and - if not on view - please ensure to ask for your copy. Meanwhile, should any business be brave enough, the stand is looking for a new home
 and there are more in our office!


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