The parents of construction victim Jean Paul Sofia have demanded compensation from all those involved in the project, a year after the fatal accident at Corradino.

The request for compensation came through a court case filed in the First Hall of the Civil Court in which they claimed moral and material damages over the death of their 20-year-old son.

Isabelle Bonnici and John Sofia filed the case against architect Adriana Zammit,  who designed the building and an Infrastructure Malta employee; Lands Authority official and alleged human trafficker Kurt Buhagiar, his business partner Matthew Schembri, who jointly owns AllPlus Limited; contractor Milomir Jovicevic and his wife and company co-director Dijana Jovicevic.

The Corradino industrial estate construction site where Sofia was killed on December 3 was being developed into a timber factory. Sofia was found dead, buried beneath the rubble following a 14-hour search that ended at 2am.

Five workers were rescued from the rubble, three of them seriously injured.

In a statement, the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation said the case was filed with the support of the Public Interest Litigation Network (PILN), a network of lawyers who offer their legal services to deliver broader access to justice in a country where it is lacking.  

A report by the PILN and The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation published in June, “Victims of Malta’s Construction Boom: the fatal wait for accountability”, found that between 2010 and 2022 at least 49 workers were killed while working on construction sites.

The civil case, which complements an ongoing criminal case and the public inquiry into Sofia’s death, is aimed at ensuring full justice for Sofia and ultimately protecting the lives of other workers on construction sites, it said.

The application was signed by lawyers Christine Bellizzi, Matthew Cutajar, David Zahra and David Bonello.