Lawyer calls for diplomatic intervention

A Maltese lawyer has called on the government to intervene through diplomatic channels to ensure that a man extradited to Italy will not face charges other than those for which he was extradited.

Turab Ahmed Sheikh, a Pakistani married to a Maltese, was extradited last October to face involuntary homicide charges in connection with the Yioham tragedy of Christmas Day 1996. Around 300 illegal immigrants, some of whom were being off-loaded to a Maltese-registered launch from the ship, had drowned on that night in the Malta-Sicily Channel.

Sheikh was acquitted but may now face a new murder charge, which his lawyer in Malta, Dr Joseph Giglio, is objecting to on the grounds that he was not extradited to face that charge.

The wooden 18-metre fishing launch had left Marsaxlokk late on Christmas Eve in bad weather to meet the Yioham some 30 miles off the north east of Malta.

When Mr Sheikh was arrested after the tragedy, he had told police he had originally planned to accompany two men on the launch to transport illegal immigrants but had then changed his mind because of the bad weather.

Mr Sheikh had released a four-page statement in which he had said he had seen the weather report on teletext and decided not to go with the two missing men. However, he had kept radio contact via a VHF radio but eventually lost contact.

The Italians had sought his extradition to prosecute him for involuntary homicide, shipwreck, conspiracy and human trafficking.

But a Maltese court had ruled that some of the charges were not extraditable offences under Maltese law and ordered his extradition to face charges of involuntary homicide and the ferrying of illegal immigrants.

Mr Sheikh was acquitted of those charges but sources in Italy said he was now expected to face wilful homicide charges on July 8. Mr Sheikh is currently in Sicily waiting to be paid for work he did in prison while awaiting trial.

Dr Giglio, who had defended Mr Sheikh during the extradition proceedings, said that when his client was extradited there was no charge of voluntary homicide and Mr Sheikh can only be tried for what he was extradited on.

Dr Giglio said he has requested the government to intervene through diplomatic channels.

He said a hearing has been appointed for July 8 and if his client were to be charged with murder, this would run contrary to the Law of Specialty which states that a person may only stand accused on the charges for which he was extradited.

Dr Giglio expressed concern over how Mr Sheikh could be tried twice on the same facts.