Former OPM official Neville Gafá has claimed that he was “operating under Libyan jurisdiction” when he coordinated a pushback of migrants at Malta’s request on Easter Sunday last year. Gafá, who is currently self-employed since resigning his public post last year, was testifying on Wednesday in constitutional proceedings filed by lawyer Paul Borg Olivier on behalf of 52 asylum seekers. The asylum seekers are suing the Maltese state, claiming their rights were breached when they were pushed back to Libya in April 2020 by a private, Libyan-registered fishing vessel. NGO AlarmPhone had alerted Maltese authorities to the fate of a dinghy of migrants heading to the Maltese search and rescue zone. Those migrants were picked up by the private vessel, which was engaged by Maltese authorities, and returned to Libya where they were placed in a detention centre. A separate ship carried food and water to Libya. Gafá explained under oath how that Easter Sunday, a call from the prime minister’s office had reached him, requesting his assistance in setting up contact with the home affairs minister in Libya. It was rather a difficult time, given the heavy attack on Tripoli at the time, he...