Fisherman fined €23,000 for pretending Egyptian workers were his crew

A man who misled the authorities by telling them that construction workers he had brought to Malta from Egypt were fishermen has been slapped with a fine of over €23,000 for offences relating to human trafficking.

Magistrate Grazio Mercieca had heard Principal Immigration Officer, Frankie Sammut accuse Christian Debattista, 24, of Zejtun, of falsely declaring to the authorities that the three Egyptian workers were fishermen, residing on the vessel Sarah.

The court had been told that Debattista would recruit crew members in Egypt, with the promise of a work visa. The police had carried out a covert surveillance operation, watching the ship for a month and noted that the Egyptian individuals were not sleeping on the vessel, but were living in an apartment in Birzebbugia.

The Egyptians also testified, telling the court that they were illegally employed as tile layers, not fishermen.

Despite initially denying the charges, during the course of proceedings, Debattista changed his plea to one of guilt.

The court, in view of this, found him guilty as charged and fined him €23,293.73, to be paid within two years from today.

But it did not order the confiscation of the fishing vessel, noting that it would be depriving the accused of the opportunity to make an honest living and saying that this satisfied the requirement for special and extraordinary reasons for it not to do so.

The court ordered the vessel be released to the accused.