Leisure Clothing case: lawyers hit out at 'punitive' freezing order

Lawyers for Leisure Clothing’s Managing Director Han Bin have hit out at a freezing order imposed on the textile factory’s Chinese directors as part of the human trafficking case against them.

Magistrate Ian Farrugia heard lawyer Edward Gatt object to the order, which he said was being enforced without any indication of the amount it was meant to be securing. A freezing order is a pre-emptive measure, not a punitive one, said the lawyer, “but without an indication of the amount he is supposed to have earned it has taken on a punitive nature.”

The lawyer asked for the court to force the prosecution to specify how much was to be frozen, saying the case was not as clear-cut as the prosecution was making it seem. “The Attorney General has asked for the identification of the alleged victims. That says a lot,” Gatt said.

42 months have passed since the arrest of Mr. Han and his marketing director Jia Liu on charges of human trafficking and imposing illegal working conditions, 39 months since the court had decreed that there was sufficient evidence to indict the pair in 2015. The compilation of evidence against the two men is still ongoing.

The court had previously accepted a request by the defence to modify the accused’s bail conditions, reducing the frequency that they must sign a bail book from four times a week to once a week.

The case had come to light in October 2014 after several of the now-closed Bulebel factory's Vietnamese employees had been arrested while attempting to leave the island with false Italian identity documents. The workers had told the police that they had not been paid the agreed wages and that their passports had been withheld by the company. A police investigation followed.

In one previous sitting, a string of Vietnamese employees had testified to how they would receive €200-€300 monthly – half the amount they had been promised, and well below the minimum wage – for working 12 hours a day, seven days a week and had their passports confiscated by the company upon their arrival.

But compilation proceedings had been stalled by the retirement of presiding Magistrate Carol Peralta, which required the outgoing magistrate’s pending caseload to be redistributed. The case was eventually assigned to, then newly-appointed, magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, who, due to her former role as deputy Attorney General, had recused herself in this case. Magistrate Ian Farrugia is now presiding the case, which will continue later this month.

Police Inspector Joseph Busuttil is leading the prosecution. Lawyers Karl Briffa, Katrine Camilleri and Michael Camilleri are appearing as parte civile for the workers. Lawyers Edward Gatt and Pio Valletta are defence counsel to the company directors.