Waylon Johnston
Two jailed for beach rape
Two Libyan men were jailed for a total of 25 years yesterday after jurors unanimously found one of them guilty of raping a Swedish girl and the other of assisting him.
The girl, who was holidaying in Malta with a friend, was raped by one man of the men while the other held her down in Shingles Bay, St Julians in 2006.
Nader Abdulaziz Elgerian was found guilty of raping the girl and of relapsing.
Hasan Mohamed Ahmed was found guilty of assisting him.
While making his pleas on punishment, the head of the Prosecution Unit at the Attorney General's Office, lawyer Anthony Barbara said that there might have never been such a clearer guilty verdict on all charges as in this case.
"Instead of coming to Malta for a holiday, the girls were subjected to trauma that would not be easily forgotten throughout their lives". He added that the punishment should reflect the personal suffering of the girl and serve as a deterrent to Maltese citizens and foreigners alike.
Defence lawyer Joe Brincat said that although Mr Elgerian had been found guilty of relapsing, raising his punishment to reflect this was not mandatory, adding that Mr Ahmed had a clean police record.
Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono took into consideration the pleas on punishment and the gravity of the case. He said he also considered the fact that Mr Elgerian had already been found guilty of theft and was an illegal immigrant. Mr Elgerian was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and Mr Ahmed was jailed for 10 years. They were also fined €4,237.96 each.
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In Discussion
9 Comments
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Joe Morana
Oct 23rd 2008, 14:18
Whatever happened to the sentencing term: "Sentenced to XX years, with hard labour"? Visions of prisoners dressed in orange coveralls, dragging a ball and chain, cleaning up all of Malta! Now that would serve as a deterrant and help pay for prisoners' upkeep. And let us not forget immediate deportation after the sentence is served, and their passport stamped "Persona non grata"!
oliver mallia
Oct 23rd 2008, 13:41
Luke Tabone is 100% right !
Send them in jail of Libya or Sweden
Pierre Agius
Oct 23rd 2008, 12:24
Well done to the prosecution. Sentence should serve as a deterence. Now we need consistency in such cases. Let us not forget that Malta lives off tourism and that such disgusting behaviour by whoever it may be, damages greatly our industry.
Joanne Micallef
Oct 23rd 2008, 11:59
All rape charges should be handed a similar sentence, usually rape charges get a mediocre sentence in Malta when one considers the damage such a horrific experience has on the victim,
Jeremy J Camilleri
Oct 23rd 2008, 10:23
Mr Sciberras...Rape affects the victim's life. As such I do not agree that the sentence was too severe. In certain countries, rapists might even get life, in Malta, 5 years is the norm.
On the other hand, similar cases in the past have gotten off lightly, as correctly stated by Charles Apap.
William Patrick
Oct 23rd 2008, 10:14
It is also to be hoped that, to prevent further damage to the good name of Malta by such despicable acts against tourists, both men will automatically be deported when they are released from prison.
Luke Tabone
Oct 23rd 2008, 09:58
"Mr Elgerian had already been found guilty of theft and was an illegal immigrant"
Hmm ok, so he was here illegally. Lets keep him here for another 15 years and paying for his prison term. Prison terms costs approx €16 per day per prisoner. So this immigrant criminal is going to end up costing the tax payer €87,600 for the duration of his 15 year imprisonment (notwithstanding the court and legal fees)
Mario Sciberras
Oct 23rd 2008, 09:34
Rape is a serious offence and it should be punished. How does a 15 years imprisonment sentence compare with similar cases decided by our courts in the past? I stand to be corrected but I get the impression that this sentence was too severe or that other sentences for similar offences were too lenient.
Charles Apap
Oct 23rd 2008, 09:29
.......and raping a ten-year-old gets you seven years!!!