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Bossano spoke one sentence in the Antena 3 programme
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The Government is lying when it claims that anyone from the Opposition has made untrue allegations about the Dr Giraldi Home, now or at any time in the past. The Opposition adss that it has made the same demands as many others and this is that there should be an independent, transparent investigation of the allegations and that the results should be made public.
In a statement the Opposition adds: If this had been done from the outset there would have been nothing for the Spanish television channel Antena 3 to comment on. This is the way matters are dealt with in the United Kingdom or anywhere else.
The Opposition has not been involved in setting up a television programme in Spain. It has been involved in answering questions from a Spanish journalist in Gibraltar limited to the exchanges which were aired in the programme which are as follows:
EXCHANGES
?Journalist: El abogado Joe Bossano, ex presidente de Gibraltar, ha tardado tres anos en demonstrar que Joanna Hernandez fue despedida impocedentemente. Como lider del partido laborista, tambien ha intentado que se aclare lo que ocurre en este centro.
Joe Bossano: Yo le pregunto en el parlamento bueno, si todo esto es un montaje y una mentira, entonces porque no se permitio que se escuchara el caso el primer dia, en el 2006, no, eso no lo aclaran.
Journalist: El resto de partidos de la oposicion, el partido progresista democrata y los liberals tambien demandan esta investigacion. Nadie se atreve a asegurar que las acusaciones sean ciertas pero mientras no se aclaren los hechos siempre quedara la sombre de la duda.?
Mr Bossano therefore only spoke one sentence in the entire programme and this related to his role in defending Joanna Hernandez in the industrial tribunal. No comments made by Mr Costa were actually broadcast in the programme itself. His interview had centred on the questions he had tabled in Parliament on this matter. The way the programme was presented is not the responsibility of anyone who was interviewed in Gibraltar who had no idea how the programme would eventually be put together.
CENTRAL ISSUE
The central issue remains that the Government has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds in seeking to prevent the industrial tribunal?s hearing of the claim for the unfair dismissal of the former Manager of the Dr Giraldi Home Joanna Hernandez. When they failed and the tribunal was finally able to commence the case, at the very last minute the Government admitted they were unable to provide evidence to justify the dismissal. They have never given any explanation why they went to such lengths and spent so much money to stop the tribunal hearing the case during which the allegations would have been aired in public as part of the evidence in witness statements made under oath.
All this has contributed to the widespread view that there is a need to establish beyond doubt whether there is a basis for any of the allegations.
The Government claim in their last statement that all allegations have been fully and properly investigated. In fact, as recently as September in Parliament they were not sure who had investigated what, whether there were any records, whether the answers that had been given depended on the memory of those currently in the Agency preparing the answer and Ministers had no direct knowledge of the accuracy of the answer being given in Parliament as regards the specific allegations. None of this is consistent with the claim that there has been a full and proper investigation of the allegations.
The Opposition reiterate that a full, independent inquiry into the allegations should take place.
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