Man released after arrest for contempt is ruled illegal

The arrest of a man for contempt of court earlier today has been ruled to be illegal.

The court ordered the arrest of Carmelo Zammit, who is in the midst of fraud proceedings along with another man, after it found him in contempt when he transferred two vehicles to third parties, despite being subject to a freezing order.

Zammit was sentenced to imprisonment for two months, effective immediately. No appeal to such decrees can be filed.

Zammit’s lawyers Franco Debono, Amadeus Cachia and Josette Sultana

filed an urgent application of habeas corpus this afternoon, claiming the arrest to be illegal as it was based on the application of the wrong law.

A different article of the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure to that under which Zammit had been found guilty applied to contempt in cases of breaches of court orders, such as freezing orders, argued the defence.

The application for habeas corpus was ordered to be heard with urgency before duty magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit. In a sitting that was held at around 4:30pm, the court acceded to the defence's request, ruling that the arrest was illegal and ordering the man's immediate release.