Labour, PN unite in calling for change to draconian law

Labour MP Luciano Busuttil and Opposition MP Antoine Borg presented speaker Anglu Farrugia a petition signed by 27,019 citizens calling for a change to the draconian law which saw a woman jailed for five years.

Teacher Dorianne Camilleri, 34, is facing a five-year prison sentence over the involuntary killing of Alfred Zahra in a 2011 traffic accident and for grievously injuring his elderly sister.

The decision has sparked public uproar, with many insisting that the accident was in no way Camilleri’s fault. With its hands tied, the court could only hand down a custodial sentence as a penalty. Justice minister Owen Bonnici has since moved an amendment to the Criminal Code, which would leave the sentence at the discretion of the magistrate.

The petition will be presented in parliament by speaker Anglu Farrugia on Monday and will be the first to be forwarded to the newly created petitions committee which can then make its own recommendations.