Fined, deported for drug possession

A Libyan was yesterday fined Lm400 after a magistrate found him guilty of the possession of heroin and cannabis resin but cleared him of trafficking the drugs.

Abdussalem M. Abdussalem, 30, was found guilty of possessing the two types of drugs and being in Malta without leave from the immigration authorities on and before April, 1998.

Magistrate Noel Cuschieri heard how, as police were investigating an Arab man who had come back to Malta after being deported, they searched a Gzira apartment. There they found Abdussalem who tried to escape from the window.

Police arrested him and started investigating him. They found that he had lived with his girlfriend for nine years and that they were planning to get married. But in April, 1998 he had been found guilty of complicity in rape, was imprisoned and deported after serving time.

He eventually returned to Malta without the necessary permits and went to live with his girlfriend.

The magistrate noted that the prosecution had based its case on the testimonies of Mohammed Duah Mahmud and Simon Bonnet.

When Mahmud released a statement to police, under oath, he said that he bought drugs from a certain Abdul Salem who was Libyan. But when he testified before the Magistrates' Court, Mahmud did not recognise the accused.

Similarly, when Bonnet testified in the compilation of evidence against Abdussalem he first said that he bought cannabis resin from "Abdul". He then changed his version and said that he bought the drug from a certain Mahmud Ali Ambar in Abdussalem's presence.

Magistrate Cuschieri also heard how Abdussalem admitted to simple drug possession but denied selling drugs.

For this reason, the drug possession charges had been proven. But the drug trafficking charge had not since the testimonies of Mahmud and Bonnet, which were the pillars of the prosecution's case, had collapsed.

The magistrate ruled that the punishment he would hand down would have to serve as a deterrent but, despite this, imprisonment was not appropriate.

He said that a foreigner should not he allowed to take advantage of Malta's hospitality and break the law. Once a person betrayed such hospitality, he said, the court should take this into consideration. The magistrate ordered Adbussalem's deportation.

Police Inspector Norbert Ciappara prosecuted.

Dr Jason Azzopardi appeared for Abdussalem.