Maltese man contests extradition to Italy in case over 10 tonnes of cannabis

A Maltese man is once again fighting extradition to Italy over allegations of trafficking 10 tonnes of cannabis resin, after the initial European Arrest Warrant (EAW) made by the Italian authorities had been declined by a magistrate on procedural grounds. 

The 42-year-old man, by a court order issued today, cannot be named in the press, has been remanded in custody until his case is heard in a sitting tomorrow before another magistrate. 

Towards the end of proceedings this afternoon, the sitting descended into a shouting match between the man’s lawyers, Pawlu Lia and Alessandro Lia and prosecuting officials Inspectors Mark Galea, Omar Zammit and Lawyer George Camilleri from the Office of the Attorney General. 

Earlier, Inspector Galea had been grilled on the witness stand for 45 minutes, explaining that although the Schengen Information System (SiS) alert on the man’s name remained the same, it was tied to a different EAW than that which had previously been dismissed by the courts. 

He argued that the Italian authorities had fixed the mistakes picked up by the Maltese court and issued another EAW, also citing different grounds. 

Alessandro Lia observed that the original EAW from June 2019 was based on an ordinance which was no longer in force. 

AG prosecutor, lawyer George Camilleri submitted that this dealt with the merits, and that the first sitting in an EAW case is to confirm the identity of the requested person, any obstacles to extradition, which are listed in the law and to establish whether or not the person consents to the extradition. 

“This reasoning means that as long as we tick these very basic points, we can leave a person arrested, even if alleged that there could be a serious defect that would mean he shouldn’t even be here,” argued Lia. 

Presiding magistrate Yana Micallef Stafrace said that although the lawyer might have a point, she was not allowed to tackle that issue at this stage. 

Lia questioned why the man was being arraigned two years and three months after the initial request by the Italian authorities. Inspector Galea explained that the SiS alert also required a go ahead to arrest the person from the AG, who issued it yesterday. He did not know why it was issued over two years later, only that the SiS alert was rendered valid for arrest last night. 

The court, after having seen the SiS alert as well as documentation provided by the AG, and seeing that he is being sought by the judicial authorities of the Italian Republic for prosecution, proceeded to declare that the person appearing before it was the same person mentioned in the EAW. 
 
Bail was then requested by lawyer Alessandro Lia. 

The AG objected to the request, saying that it was difficult to convince a court that a Maltese citizen was a flight risk in an EAW case. “The accusations are trafficking of 10 tonnes of cannabis resin. I cannot say that there is no fear of him escaping. I cannot explain why he hasn’t done so already, but the risk is there.” 
The man found himself in court after a police operation that has been ongoing for 4 days, said the lawyer. 

The rest of the bail objections are subject to a ban on publication. 

The court, after hearing submissions on bail, denied the man’s release at this stage. 

After the sitting was finished there were heated exchanges between the defence and prosecution lawyers, with lawyer Pawlu Lia shouting at one point that “it was not necessary. He will sleep in prison for nothing!” Camilleri replied at equal volume, “I am loyal to my oath! We don’t want him to think we have something against him.” 

Alessandro Lia, as his client burst into tears, lambasted the prosecution for only giving him disclosure of the evidence against the accused “just 30 minutes” before the arraignment. 

The case continues tomorrow.