Court hears witnesses in Degiorgio brothers' request for bail with electronic tags

Director of Prisons Alex Dalli told the court that electronic tagging was only allowed in cases where prisoners are released on parole and not when they are under preventative arrest

16 April 2019, 2:55pm
by Matthew Agius

2 min read

The Degiorgio brothers have made several requests for bail since their arrest in December 2017

Two of the men accused of murdering Daphne Caruana Galizia had their prospects of being released on bail with electronic tags dashed after a court heard how the only inmates who were on parole are eligible for electronic tagging.

Lawyer William Cuschieri, appearing for the brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio in Constitutional proceedings demanding their release from custody, argued that he had made identical requests for bail in several instances, and that these were being heard by a limited number of judges who had repeatedly expressed their intention to deny bail.

Madam Justice Lorraine Schembri Orland, however, said she did not feel that the evidence showed that there “is some imputation of prejudice on the part of the judges who heard the preceding requests”.

It today’s sitting it emerged that while the electronic tagging of convicts on parole was allowed, the same did not apply to suspects in preventative custody.

Director of Prisons Alex Dalli took the stand, confirming that the Degiorgio brothers had been held in Corradino Corrective Facility (CCF) since December 2017.

Asked about the electronic tagging procedure, he said that the behaviour and rehabilitation of prisoners who are sentenced and not under preventive arrest or on bail, are examined by an advisory board towards the end of their sentence.

There are schemes for pre-release candidates involving community work he said. At the moment, the prison authorities are carrying out a test project involving inmates approved by the prison leave advisory board in which they are fitted with electronic tags in ankle bracelets and monitored by officials from CCF. The system doesn’t exist for people on bail, he said, however.

Lawyer Victoria Buttigieg from the Office of the Attorney General asked the witness to state whether the accused were still under arrest or sentenced. They were under arrest, the witness said.

“So, this method [electronic tagging] doesn’t exist for those under preventive arrest?” Buttigieg asked. Dalli replied in the affirmative.

Times of Malta news editor Matthew Xuereb was also summoned to testify today but did not appear when called.

The court instructed the police to ensure that he testified in the next sitting, which will be on 23 May.

Matthew Agius is Senior Reporter on Law and Court Affairs at MaltaToday. He is also a Leg...