Dissident feels treated like a criminal

Mohammed El Megaljef, a former Libyan ambassador to India now residing in the US, is pleading with the Maltese government to assume a humane attitude towards his nephew, 28-year-old Taddel Guma Al Madrous, who is seeking refugee status in Malta and is being held at the Hal Far detention centre.

Speaking to The Times in a telephone interview, Dr El Megaljef said that when he was ambassador to India, he had declared his opposition to the Libyan government and later set up the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, an underground opposition movement.

He said yesterday that the Libyan regime's record was very well known. "It committed atrocities against the people in general but especially against those who opposed it," he said.

Even though many believed that Libya had changed, he said, it had not.

Dr El Megaljef said his nephew had for some time before leaving Libya taken part in activities which were considered to be anti-regime, such as distributing leaflets and speaking his mind against the government. To be related to someone who was anti-regime put one in a circle of suspected people, he said.

"Eight of my brothers, one of my sisters and some other relatives of mine were put in prison by the Libyan government because of my beliefs and because they could not do anything to me as I was out of the country."

After leaving India, Dr El Megaljef spent four years in Morocco, then moved to Egypt in 1984. The Libyan government tried to convince the Moroccan authorities to hand him over.

He left Egypt in 1991 after the Egyptian authorities handed his brother over to the Libyan regime. Dr El Megaljef said he then left for the US together with his family.

He said that throughout this period, the Libyan government had tried to assassinate him several times but failed. However, his family and relatives were still targets.

"The regime claims to have changed. I am sure it will never change. It is in its nature to have a very violent and inhumane attitude towards people in general but especially people who oppose it," he said.

The nephew, Mr Al Madrous, came to Malta soon after he was released from prison - on March 15, 2001. He entered the country as a tourist coming over by plane with the required tourist visa.

As he had no intention of returning to Libya, where he had been imprisoned for taking part in anti-regime activities, he let his visa expire and stayed on. He used to live in Siggiewi where he made numerous friends and got on very well with the neighbours.

He applied for refugee status after he was picked up by the police while at the beach following the escape of a number of immigrants from Hal Far. He had been in Malta for about two and a half years.

The police had been searching for the escaped immigrants and realised Mr Al Madrous was not Maltese. They asked him for his ID card. He said he did not have one and presented his passport with the expired visa. He told them about his situation and that he did not want to return to his country. He said he wanted to apply for refugee status.

Mr Al Madrous, who was also interviewed by The Times by telephone, said he was advised to leave the country rather than apply to be considered as a refugee, and consequently he left for Tunisia. However, he returned after just a few days and insisted on applying. He went ahead and his interview was held on October 16. He said he presented the documents that were requested of him and a second interview was held in December.

On February 6 he was told that his request for refugee status had been rejected.

The reasons for the rejection, Mr Al Madrous said, were that he should have applied for refugee status on arrival in Malta and not on being caught with an expired visa.

Another reason he was given was that his father and two brothers had visited him here and nothing had happened to them on their return home, so nothing should happen to him.

This, Mr Al Madrous said, was not the case since he had already spent three years - between 1994 and 1996 and between 1999 and 2000 - in prison for his activities. During the time he was not in prison, Mr Al Madrous was involved in the family business and lived in Benghazi.

"If I had nothing to fear in my home country I would return but I cannot," he said.

Mr Al Madrous said he did not apply for refugee status before being caught because he had always been fearful because of the friendship that existed between Malta and Libya.

When his application was rejected he appealed but no decision has as yet been taken by the Appeals Board.

He said that recently, his uncle Dr El Megaljef, whom he had lost contact with, learned about his detention and sent him new documents to support his claim for refugee status.

He said that as President Emeritus Guido de Marco had once said, democracy was like a piece of rubber which everyone pulled the way one wanted. "I left a dictatorship in Libya to end up as a prisoner in another country."

Mr Al Madrous said that if he managed to obtain refugee status, he would not stay on in Malta, even though he had many friends, but move on to London to be with his family. Although some members of his family remained in Libya and other members were in the US, the greater number of his family were in London.

"I no longer feel safe here. And what I want is to live in peace for the rest of my life. I am not a criminal but I feel I am treated like one.

"For although the police treat us really well and fork out money out of their own pockets to get us things we need, if I need to go to hospital for something I am handcuffed, for example.

"When people see me handcuffed they see a criminal and not an illegal immigrant. I feel that," he said.