Inmate requests bail to receive dialysis for kidney condition

A prison inmate who yesterday filed a judicial protest, claiming that he was not being given the right medical care for kidney disease by the prison authorities, has this morning filed a request for bail.

36-year-old Christopher Bartolo of Fontana, Gozo, was jailed for five years and fined €15,000 last April after he pleaded guilty to trafficking 1.5kg of cannabis resin to avoid a trial by jury.

In the court application, filed by lawyers Franco Debono, Amadeus Cachia and Yanika Vidal this morning, Bartolo explained that he had immediately filed an appeal against the April judgement and had been waiting to be allocated a sitting date for three and a half months. As happens when appeals are filed from a decision by the Criminal Court, Bartolo is still being kept in detention.

The conditions in which he is being held in jail were "not ideal for his present medical condition" his application stated, adding that his stay in prison was going to be detrimental to his health.  

His lawyers are asking the Court of Criminal Appeal to release Bartolo on bail in order to allow him to continue to receive dialysis treatment for his kidney condition, pointing out that Bartolo poses none of the risks that normally preclude bail and reminding that he was still presumed innocent.