Judgment termed inhuman

Mid-Dlam Ghad-Dawl, the organisation for the support of prisoners and their families, yesterday issued a statement in which they described the life imprisonment handed down on Libyan Ibrahim Ramandan Ghamber Shnisha as inhuman and unjust.

The organisation recognised the gravity of the case but said it was extremely disappointed and saddened by the severe decision, especially after considering that jurors had found Shnishah guilty by six votes to three after six and a half hours of deliberation.

"While Mid-Dlam Ghad-Dawl would like to think that our courts have the will to start approaching acceptable European standards when handing down judgment, it is doubtful whether this is what is happening. It is Mid-Dlam Ghad-Dawl's fear that, among European countries, with such sentences Malta may appear to be truly anachronistic."