Drug suspect awarded €4,000 in damages after waiting 12 years for trial

A man has been awarded €4,000 for a breach in his fundamental rights after waiting over 12 years to be brought to trial for alleged drug trafficking.

Clive Butler, from Marsaskala, is currently facing charges of international conspiracy to import and traffic heroin and still faces trial in connection with this case.

Butler has waited over 12 years to be brought to trial relating to these charges. 

The man was first arrested in 2011 after arriving in Malta on a flight from Brussels. He was stopped at Customs upon landing and his person and luggage were searched. He was even escorted to hospital for additional screening of illicit substances. All searches resulted in the negative, after which he was released.

However, in 2013, he was rearrested and charged with association in drug trafficking. He was arrested at his Marsaskala apartment after intensive international investigations and inquiries.

The compilation of evidence dragged on for years, with the prosecution finally presenting the bill of indictment in 2022.

In 2011, he was arrested after police stopped three Lithuanian nationals in a vehicle and found 2.2kg of high-grade heroin.

When police interrogated the three men, they named a certain ‘Butler’ as the person responsible for organising the delivery of the drug consignments.

The court said that a significant part of the delay was due to serious shortcomings by the prosecution and mentioned in particular the slow procedural process of handling the letters rogatory with the foreign authorities involved. These documents required translations which dragged on until 2021, despite the foreign authorities responding within a relatively short time.

Judge Mark Simiana believed that in the circumstances, the applicant deserved compensation for the moral harm he endured. The court also considered the fact that the delay negatively impacted Butler’s life as well as the fact that he had been subject to a freezing order and harsh bail conditions.

While the State was mainly at fault for the delay, the court also considered that Butler contributed to prolonging the proceedings by raising unjustified complaints. Moreover, Butler was consistently allowed by the courts to travel abroad such that his liberty was not completely restricted during this long process.

The court emphasised that this does not diminish the moral harm he suffered due to the excessive delay. Therefore, the judge upheld his request and ordered €4,000 in compensation, taking into account both the negative impact on his private life and the legal and procedural circumstances of the case.