Updated | Lesiure Clothing directors granted bail

Magistrate Carol Peralta has granted bail to Leisure Clothing Managing Director Bin Han and Marketing Director Jian Liu, whose lawyers presented an urgent application in court early Friday morning.

The pair have been charged with trafficking in persons, abuse of authority, misappropriation, failing to comply with recognised conditions of employment, and failing to pay wages, bonus and overtime for nine Vietnamese workers. 

They are also charged with failing to answer, or giving false answers, or causing other persons to give false answers to questions put to them by employment inspectors.

Lawyer Edward Gatt told Magistrate Carol Peralta this afternoon that the defence is contending that when it comes to rights of the accused, two days under arrest merit the urgency of proceedings. “Even a single minute of liberty lost without good reason merits urgent proceedings” said Gatt. The lawyer described the previous denial of bail as incorrect “on an academic level”.

Gatt brought to the attention of the magistrate to the fact that the men were given police bail for two or three weeks while police "were dilly-dallying" before they were finally arrested and arraigned in court. 

Gatt described the accusation of human trafficking as “shady and nebulous”, adding that denying bail would be sending a very wrong message He alleged that the prosecution was under pressure from the media to press charges.

“The problem began when some months ago certain media outlets highlighted the working conditions offered by the company. This led to several court proceedings which mirror today’s proceedings”.

Magistrate Peralta pointed out that the prior case to which he was referring was withdrawn in order to allow these proceedings to continue, however Gatt said that it was relevant and important because the accused had submitted affidavits before the case was withdrawn.

 “Up to last week, we were told that the most serious accusation – that of human trafficking - was moot. In court (not in the media), we know what human trafficking is. To work in Malta is something sought after in China, it is prestigious. These people, who do not come here by the containerful but in ones and twos, tell their families, they bring money, they go out and eat and enjoy themselves. They are not slaves and are not trafficked.”

“There is no risk of interfering with witnesses, tampering with evidence or absconding – Han has been in Malta for 20 years. They are here to fight the case because they are suffering massive reputational damages already. Imagine what would happen if they skipped bail and escaped from Malta,” Gatt told the court.

Police Inspector Joseph Busuttil argued that these arguments are not borne out by the facts. He told the court that the police found out about the case from the DIER and not from the media. “We were aware of it well in advance of the media” said the inspector.

"We are not trying to establish guilt or innocence at this stage, so many of the points are irrelevant."

“One of the accused has acquired Maltese citizenship, true, but he may well again become a Chinese citizen as he was born there and has no ties to the island. “If we had a shadow of doubt about the case, we would not be prosecuting. Today the court is simply going to decide on bail, not the merits of the case”.

Magistrate Peralta had pulled the inspector up on this last statement, saying that “this court is not a rubber stamp, you must present evidence”. Inspector Busuttil replied, “this evidence will be brought, and it is important to prevent anyone tampering with it”.

The Inspector described the defence’s statement that this was not a case of human trafficking as presumptious, adding that none of the witnesses have testified. “It is obvious that there will be interference. In fact, it will emerge in due course that since the last sitting, the workers have been told to lie to the police”.

Busuttil reiterated the objection to bail on the grounds that Liu has no fixed residence or family in Malta. Han does have a residence here but also has no ties or family in Malta, reminding the court that there is also no extradition treaty between Malta and China.

He explained that the police intentionally arrested Bin Han at his home when they did as they had information that he was going to flee the island. “He had purchased air tickets to Rome...When we searched the house, we found his bags packed”.

Han had initially told police that he was not going anywhere but is alleged to have changed his story when presented with this evidence.

“I cannot understand how , if nothing has changed in the past 48 hours, they should be granted bail when this was previously denied. I know for a fact that they will interefere with witnesses and there is also a fear that they will abscond.”

Gatt retorted, “a lot has changed in that timespan because the magistrate has changed.”

“They are always going to be considered a flight risk because they are foreigners. Do we simply throw away the key?” asked Gatt, pointing out that “the accusation, which is highly contested, is not murder”.

Defence lawyer Pio Valletta reiterated the explanation the pair’s luggage was packed because of an imminent trip abroad to meet with the company chairman. “He goes abroad very often. Every time he went abroad before, he came back”, said Valletta, to which the magistrate quipped, “but every time he went abroad before, he didn’t have these charges hanging over him”.

“We will bring photographs of them (the workers) enjoying themselves in Paceville, this will show how enslaved they were”.

The inspector felt that the court should hear the evidence and at this stage, the court should be confident that the witnesses are as free from outside influence as possible.

He highlighted the fact that the Chinese and Vietnamese community in Malta is very small, a fact which, he said, makes the likelihood of tampering with evidence higher than normal.

The Magistrate agreed that there may well be a risk of tampering with evidence, adding that he was also concerned by the luggage story.

The magistrate retired to chambers to deliberate. A decree on bail is expected around 4 pm.