A Libyan man living in Swieqi and granted bail under house arrest had his bail bond deposit reduced from Lm4,000 to Lm2,000 and the personal guarantee increased from Lm15,000 to Lm20,000.

The ruling was given by Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera in the case against Mahmud Ali Amber, 35, also known as il-Mizda, who is pleading not guilty to drug conspiracy, importation and trafficking.

Magistrate Scerri Herrera noted that Amber had been granted bail on August 9, 2001, against a Lm10,000 deposit and personal guarantee of the same amount.

But the deposit was reduced to Lm4,000 and the personal guarantee increased to Lm15,000 on December 5, 2002, after the magistrate upheld Amber's request to alter the conditions on the grounds that since he could not afford the Lm10,000 deposit he could not benefit from bail.

After investigating Amber's financial situation, the magistrate defined the principles of granting bail, among which she listed the principle that the preventive arrest could be illegal or irregular if the guarantees were excessive and this led to the defendant not being able to benefit from bail.

But Amber made a second request to reduce the bail deposit because he claimed that he could not afford the Lm4,000.

Magistrate Scerri Herrera noted that Amber had remained in prison since February 2001, that is for over two years, and that his financial situation was still a bad one.

She added that the fact that Amber had been granted bail in the first place meant that other factors, such as the serious nature of the case, had been taken into consideration and Amber was not benefiting from bail simply because of the deposit imposed.

The case continues.

Police Inspectors Neville Aquilina and Norbert Ciappara are prosecuting.

Dr Michael Sciriha and Dr Ian Farrugia are appearing for Amber.

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