...this story will be continued in the next post after communication is finalised with police. 

2 LETTERS FROM MY HUSBAND

1

Bradley Agius

109 Conception Street

MSIDA

1/11/2014

Re: Confrontation at Paceville on 1/11/2014

To Whom It may Concern,

My wife and I visited the Millenium Chapel in Paceville on Saturday morning the 11th of January for food donations which are handed out on a regular basis.

At the office of the said establishment there was a picture of me and my wife with a note which said to call the police.

My wife dealt with this note by removing it, and we also informed the priest in charge that there was no problems and that we had already contacted my father via email.

We left the Millenium chapel at about 12:30pm with a box of food and where walking on our way home, when we were confronted by my mother, who was being followed by my my dad and my sister.

My mother started screaming from the other end of the road and started being abusive towards my wife, she also grabbed a hold of me and refused to let go.

She threatened to call the police and sent my father to the police station to get the cops.

At one point she became really aggressive and hit my wife in the face twice (and later in the stomach); I had to jump in the middle to stop my mum from hitting my wife once again.

My wife did not hit back, she did not raise her voice nor was she abusive at any particular point.

My wife's only request was that she wanted to speak with me for 2 minutes however my mum did not grant this because she kept following and hanging on to me even though I kept telling her to let go and leave me alone.

My mum kept insisting that both me and my wife follow her to the police station and she made allegations loudly getting everyone's attention that my wife was scared to go to the police station because there was a warrant for her arrest.

My wife and I tried to get away from the situation but my mother kept following us (with my wife's bag in her hand that my mother snatched off her, which contained my ID Card, our marriage certificate an Police Commissioner's Office...) so I just changed direction and went to the police station on my own accord whilst my wife went in the other direction.

When I arrived there was a PC 790 and Seargent 848, I went and told them that I was being stalked by my mother but I was not taken seriously.

The PC 790 carried on with his duties whilst the Seargent 848 took charge and started treating me like I was the offender. He asked my mother and father to get out of the room and he closed the door and the window.

He started asking me questions about me and my wife and when I asked him what was going on ; he replied that he had already heard my story but was carrying out an investigation.Then he looked up my information and there was a Missing persons Report in my name, I asked him what was that about but he refused to answer and told me to sit down.

I tried to catch a glimpse of what was written in the report since it was about me but the Seargent started getting angry and told me to go sit over there. He asked me for my wife's details and our address which I willingly gave.

Then he asked me where my wife was and I replied that I did not know since my wife had walked away due to my mother's verbal and physicial abuse.

He asked me about my employment and when I told him I do not work he said that he can keep me in the station since I did not have any money and that it was enough reason for him to hold me under arrest.

At this point I was getting frustrated with the turn of events and I wanted to leave but the Seargent denied me the liberty to leave the station and put handcuffs on me; when I was in no way aggressive or threatening anyone in the station.

When I asked him why was I being held against there against my will; he told me "Issa nghidlek ala!!" but his only reason was that I did not have any money.

Then he went and spoke with my parents for about fifteen minutes and even though the door was closed I could still hear my mum speaking to the seargent.

I heard my mum saying how she spoke with Marisa Pisani from the MINISTRY FOR THE FAMILY AND SOCIAL SOLIDARITY and that she told my mum about our housing situation and that our lease agreement was till the 26th of December She also was saying how we were sent an eviction notice and we were evicted and no longer have a house to go to; however, we never received such a notice!

Afterwards the seargent came inside and asked me if I wanted to speak to my parents.

I I told him I did not want to but he still let my parents inside the room, then he told the police officer to remove my handcuffs and that I was free to go. He also told me that they will be watching my every move.

As soon as I left I had 2 boxes full of food and clothes and asked him if I could just leave them at the station for a few hours but I was not granted this either so I just left the police station with the boxes whilst my family followed right after.

I was quite dissappointed by the turn of events; First of all I went in there willingly to make a report and I was treated like I was the one in the wrong.

Secondly I was detained in the police station against my will and when I asked why I was not given a reason; this is a breach of my rights since if I am under arrest I have the right to know the reason why.

To add insult to injury, I had handcuffs put on me even though I complied with their unreasonable demands and I was not aggressive in any way.

Finally I was told that I will be watched and they will keep an eye on me, this is harrassment since I have never been accused of committing a crime to merit such behaviour.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to your response,

Best Regards,

Mr Bradley Agius

2

Dear Mr Peppi Azzopardi, 

I would like to take this opportunity to discuss my recent experiences during the last few months. 

My wife and I got married in Cyprus and came back from our honeymoon in August.  When we came back we were living with my parents until such time as we got back on our feet.  At one point we had a personal argument and my mother got her hands on a letter which my wife addressed to me and was sent to her by mistake, she used this letter to ostracize my wife from the family house.  As a result of this we went to stay with my father's side of the family (grand parents) for a while, since my mother's father took his daughter's side as well.  The problem was that living at my grand parent's house we could not get away from the abuse which my mum and her father hurled on my wife, and as a result we were constantly fighting so we left the place and went to Bugibba. 

We stayed in Bugibba for a while and people helped us for food, a very kind woman also helped us with accommodation for 1 week but we had to leave because we could not pay the rent. At this point we decided to go and try our luck in Gozo and we went and set up our tent behind the Ta Pinu Church. We were doing really well there for a couple of weeks, the problems started when we were going to get left over bread from a local bakery which we had gotten permission to do so and we were stopped by detectives. They took us to the police station and interrogated us together and then separately. I was denied access to speak with my wife being asked 'what do you need to talk to her for?' by one of the detectives. We were told that homelessness is illegal and thus they denied us the access to stay in Gozo Then they started defaming my wife with abusive remarks some of which included;  -that she used me and she stole all my money  - that she is Australian and she has aids  -that she is to old for me and in a few years won't have kids. 

Then one of the detectives wanted to speak to me alone in the rear yard of the police station.  We had a very long conversation were at one point had practically offered to pull some strings and guarantee me a job as a police inspector since I have a university degree but I had to sever all contact with my wife to do so. He also promised to help me with getting my marriage annulled if I so wished. 

The detectives were pretty adamant in trying their best to separate me and my wife from each other which is our legal right.  They tried to put us in separate shelters, when we refused they send they would send us to the hospital instead and still we would be separated. Then they called my father to come pick me up at the police station to take me back to Malta, they were specific they we were not allowed to stay in Gozo. They practically gave me a choice between going back with my father and sleeping in a cell and being taken to court the following day. I was only allowed to speak with my wife once and then only for a few minutes in the presence of the whole station before they took her back in another room and closed the door. I did not want to leave the police station without my wife but I was eventually bullied and physically pushed to my father's car to take me back home.  Before leaving I turned and asked one of the detectives once more if he was denying me the right to speak to my wife and he answered 'get me the marriage certificate and you can speak with her as much as you want '. 

I was distraught and did not know what else to do while in my father's car on our way to catch the ferry. When we were almost at the ferry a car stopped and a my wife came running out of it and ran to my father's car. I got out to speak with her and my wife and I pleaded with my father to let us in in the car and he agreed.  The detectives were there in the car just waiting and looking at what was happening but did not interfere. 

In the end my dad drove to the ferry and they told us it was not over yet. 

We got back to Malta and went and thanked my Dad who dropped us off in Paceville, but our troubles were far from over; the next day my wife was physically assaulted by my Grandpa in public causing her injuries and hitting me as well. At this point we decided to try and seek the aid of an organization to help us with accommodation but were told that only YMCA provided shelter to couples and they were full. Under no circumstance are we going to accept to live in separate places since we are married and it is our right to live together. 

Right now we are doing really tough, we are getting help from a bakery who give us left over bread  and pastizzi and some help from a few priests. We also have a problem with transportation and have to walk almost everywhere since we cannot even afford bus tickets most of the time. We are also having problems with accommodation as well.  We have already written a formal complaint in writing to the police  commissioner and are in the process of arranging a meeting with him, we also are trying to set up a meeting with the prime minister but we have not had any luck so far. 

We talked to a young lady and she was the one who suggested we speak with Peppi Azzopardi directly and that he can help us with our current predicament.  During our experience we have found that the agencies involved; government and non government agencies alike are not suited to cater for couples with our problems. 

YMCA are the only shelter in Malta who accept couples and families and they are always full, and it is not fair to separate people who have the legal right to live together.  

However to be fair the YMCA did help us with clothes donations and a warm cup of coffee when we need it.   

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Marriage Disclaimer – updated 16th December, 2019 

I am still legally married to my husband Mr Bradley Agius – DOB 17/11/1989 – his Maltese id Card 541489M; the marriage to my husband is still intact and legally binding there was never an amicable agreement made to legally separate and I have received no notices to suggest otherwise; Mediation never happened, the first attempt failed outside the office door, it seemed the mediator failed to act impartially after her communication with the Maltese Ministry of Solidarity (my husband’s place of work at the time); my husband has refused a legal maintenance demand to continue my rent and since then, I have not received a cent from my husband; we have never reconciled since ceasing co-habitation late August, 2014; I was made involuntarily homeless from the 15th September, 2014 and denied several attempts to represent myself in front of the Judge at the Maltese Family Courts. Since then my husband has had three children to three different mothers and is legally liable for a gross reduction to my living standards, a case that I intend to self-represent (this request is not negotiable) and under the current constitution, I believe it is my right to justice.

Anne Lucy (Agius) Gelicrisio

Australian with dual passport (Maltese)