Police deny seizing expensive watch

The director general of the law courts and the Police Commissioner yesterday filed a counter protest denying a claim by a prison inmate that a Lm30,000 Rolex wristwatch went missing after the police seized it 13 years ago.

In a protest filed in the First Hall of the Civil Court, Charles Steven Muscat said he owned a Rolex that was taken from his Mosta house during a search in 1994.

(In 1994 Mr Muscat was arraigned over the murder, during a shooting incident, of Emmanuel Sultana and Alfred Grima.) Mr Muscat claimed that now, 13 years later, he filed an application for the watch to be returned but it had gone missing. He held the director of the law courts and the Police Commissioner liable in damages.

In the counter-protest filed yesterday, law courts' director and the police chief denied the allegation and said that documents clearly showed that the watch was not seized by the police.

They argued that Mr Muscat's claims were unfounded and held him responsible for any damages they may have suffered through his protest.

Lawyer Susan Sciberras signed the writ.