Updated | Inmate with kidney disease still waiting for President's reply to appeal

In his application Christopher Bartolo stated that the conditions in jail, where he is being held, were 'not ideal for his present medical condition' and that his stay in prison was proving detrimental to his health.

(File Photo)
(File Photo)

No reaction has so far been forthcoming to an appeal to the President, made by a prison inmate who is claiming that he was not being given the right medical care for kidney disease by the prison authorities, asking to be released on bail.

36-year-old Christopher Bartolo of Fontana, Gozo had been sentenced to five years of imprisonment together with a fine of €15,000 last April after he admitted to trafficking 1.5kg of cannabis resin to avoid a trial by jury.

In the court application, filed earlier this week by lawyers Franco Debono, Amadeus Cachia and Yanika Vidal, Bartolo explains that he had immediately filed an appeal against the April judgment and had been waiting to be allocated a sitting date for three and a half months. Bail is not granted pending appeals are filed from a decision by the Criminal Court and Bartolo is still being kept in detention.

The application states that the conditions in which he is being held in jail were "not ideal for his present medical condition" and 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.

Despite the passage of 48 hours, no reply or reaction had been received, Bartolo's legal team say.

 

Franco Debono: "A concrete illustration of the abstract problem with having the AG as both public prosecutor and government advisor"

Replying to questions sent by the MaltaToday, the Office of the President pointed out that this was not a decision which the President would take on her own judgement, but would act upon the recommendation of the Cabinet or a Minister, as laid out in the Constitution.

"It is pertinent to note that the letter was received two days ago, on a public holiday, by hand, and that the application has to follow the appropriate procedure," a spokesperson said.

But in a reaction, lawyer Franco Debono said this stiuation was "a concrete illustration of the abstract problem of having the Attorney General as both public prosecutor and government advisor." Debono, who has long advocated the separation of these duties, pointed out that the Attorney General, who is opposing bail, could not then also advise the President on the same matter.