A woman who claimed that an operation in Germany during which she was due to donate a kidney to her father was cancelled after her passport was stolen, has lost a court case for payment of damages. 

The woman, Nehad Khalifa, a Libyan who lives in Malta, told a court she had been shopping at a Sliema shopping centre in March 2016 and her bag was stolen when she went to the restroom.

She said the bag contained her passport, a ring, bank cards and other documents. 

Khalifa said that as a result of the theft, she and her father could not travel to Germany for an operation during which she was to donate a kidney to him, because she could not obtain a new passport until one year had elapsed.

The cancellation of the trip meant that the family had also lost a subsidy of €47,500 for the operation from the Libyan government. The family could also no longer afford to pay for the operation themselves because they had lost a profitable business in Libya owing to the uprising of 2012. 

CCTV footage of the shopping mall showed a woman, Maria Scicluna, enter the restroom with one bag and emerge with two. Scicluna initially denied stealing the bag but admitted to the theft when she was charged in court. She however denied knowing anything about Khalifa's passport.  

After hearing witnesses, Mr Justice Lawrence Mintoff in handing down judgement said there that while Scicluna had admitted to stealing the bag, no evidence had been presented to the court about the operation which was allegedly to be held in Germany.

Furthermore, a Libyan consular official had testified that it was no longer a requirement for a year to expire before a passport was replaced. The court also found no evidence of the assistance promised by the Libyan government for the operation. Furthermore, with the patient having been granted refugee status, he is eligible for medical services in Malta, where he is receiving dialysis. No evidence had been presented on the value of other items in the bag.

Therefore, the court said, no payment of damages was due. 

Lawyers Shazoo Ghaznavi and Helen Caruana appeared for the respondent. 

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