Human rights issues raised after 25-year jail term revoked

Joseph Schembri

Nov 4th 2009, 10:55

The main issue here is that a man was imprisoned for over three years while he was presumed innocent (and later found out to be innocent). This is not an isolated case - a huge portion of prison inmates in Malta are people awaiting trial... many of them have been there for years. This is one of the most hideous injustices handed out by our so called justice system which is inefficient and very often punishes the innocent.

Dr. Brincat does well to raise human rights issues here because prosecution (the police most often) sometimes make spurious accusations because they have nothing to lose. If they start having to pay for their 'mistakes' then maybe they will think twice about making such accusations.

Michael Muscat

Nov 4th 2009, 00:44

@ angelo camilleri

so you mean to tell me that he knew these pills were legal? why did he fail to declare them then? he clearly conspired with men outside malta to import 50,000 pills which im pretty sure he did not know whether or not they contained mdma or mcpp... and if these pills did actually make it to our shores they would have been sold as ecstasy....

what do you think he intended to do with them? use them as anti depressants for the rest of his life or pass them off as tic tacs?

he had the intent to perform criminal acts. and also carried out these acts in conspiracy with others.... he was not hiding these pills in his pajero just for the sake of doing so!

his acquittal is the sheer result of the fact that Dr Joe Brincat is exceptionally good at his job... how could you possibly suggest that this man should be compensated?

G. Mangion

Nov 3rd 2009, 11:36

wrongly convicted of conspiring to import 50,000 ecstasy pills in the summer of 2006 ??

These 50,000 Pill's ( equivalent to ecstasy ) !!!
their intention was to ruin more Families !

v zammit

Nov 3rd 2009, 09:36

It is not the law that is an ass but ts application and I cannot really tell who misapplied it this time. The bottom line here is material damage ('damnum emergens' possibly in a criminal sense) which would transcend the 'no punishment without a law ('nullum crimen sine lege'), unless, of course, we want to miss the wood for the trees. A list of drugs is not exhaustive and may not exclude what is drug. This is or should be made to be reflected in the law. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Or as bad when it comes to a drug by any other name. Lord Denning must be turning in his grave.

Mario busuttl

Nov 3rd 2009, 08:57

Courts of appeal had to see other senteces that where the same as this crime, where cannabis was only SAPUN and was given a harsh sentence for trafficking .So this case woud be similar to that case because he was dealing these pills that gives similar feeling as ectasy do.

Charles Micallef

Nov 3rd 2009, 08:55

This guy thinks that he has been hard done by...........,

Importing 50,000 ecstasy tables, which at the end of day and for all intense and purposes he may have thought that they where the genuine articles, and get away from the deserved prison sentence on a technicality...........

He is one lucky drug importer!

J Brincat

Nov 3rd 2009, 08:48

So the 'with the intension to....... ' principle did not hold water in this case and Mr Marsden was let free.

Perhaps the pills were meant to feed the ducks!

Ernest Vella

Nov 3rd 2009, 08:17

Din bis-serjeta, ghiduli naqra? Ghax ma nghidux li l-ligi gibniha chewing gum ukoll. Hija tal-misthija li f'pajjizna nies li allegatament jgibu d-droga minn barra jispiccaw johorgu bhala vittmi....huma dawn in-nies li qed jirrovinaw lill-pajjizna u liz-zghazagh taghna....u jmur ifittex id-drittijiet tal-bniedem....m'hemm l-ebda dritt li jghid li tista timporta d-droga. Hemm d-dritt ghall-hajja u dritt li ssir gustizzja fejn dawn qed jigu miksura meta harguh liberat...imma nsomma...mill-gustizzja tal-bnedmin il-kriminali veri jaharbu imma mill-gustizzja t'Alla hadd ma jizgicca. U hemm ghal grazzja t'Alla m'hemmx avukati

J Farrugia

Nov 3rd 2009, 08:04

The courts are going mad. Have we all forgotten that this guy made faces at us when he was arrested and taken to court? HAve we all forgotten that he hid 50,000 pills which were to inundate the drugs market by our children? And yet he is now going to sue Malta for 'damages'. What should our reply be? Kick off our island and tell him to never again set foot in our country.

S Agius

Nov 3rd 2009, 07:42

We all know Dr Brincat found him a loop hole. Now is really Dr Brincat telling us that he should have tax payers money ? What about the young Maltese who could have died on these pills ?

angelo camilleri

Nov 3rd 2009, 07:00

@michael muscat,
cant you read, this guy was wrongly convicted, now he should be heavily compensated for the time he spent in jail!!

Chris Reiff

Nov 2nd 2009, 23:03

@Comments:

EXCUSE ME??!! This man was wrongly convicted and you still say he should still be in jail??

Graham Crocker

Nov 2nd 2009, 22:23

mCPP is a psychoactive drug of the piperazine chemical class. It acts as a nonselective serotonin receptor agonist. Since the mid-2000s, it has been detected in pills touted as legal alternatives to illicit stimulants in New Zealand, and pills sold as ecstasy in Europe and the United States.

Legal status

In the Netherlands: Legal
In the United States: Legal
In Denmark: Illegal[4]
In Germany: Illegal
In Sweden: Legal
In Norway: Legal
In Brazil: Illegal[5]
In the United Kingdom: Legal
In Belgium: Illegal [6]

Jesmond Micallef

Nov 2nd 2009, 22:22

And "it" smiles too !!

Min jaf kemm dahaq meta l-Ufficjali Maltin kiexfu din il kwantita kbira ta droga mohbija gewwa il karrozza tieghu. Din hija injustizja kbira hafna jidispjacini nighd.

victor vella

Nov 2nd 2009, 21:59

I believe the people owed an explanation. We the parents of youths demand one.What is this comedy ?

C Vella

Nov 2nd 2009, 21:25

I felt so angry reading the above. So if I want to import "drugs" into UK, I will first ask for a list of drugs that are allowed in the country and make a note of ones that are not mentioned and feel free to import them legally, on the technical point that the "drugs" are not on the list. Some fat chance to do something like that going into a country like Australia, where they can stop you even if you import a 'cooked sausage'.

Michael Muscat

Nov 2nd 2009, 20:19

i cant believe that this guy has been let free to walk the streets. 50,000 pills... undeclared and imported illegally into the islands... aimed at being resold to maltese youths amongst other people....not 5...not 10 but 50,000! and how do we know that he was aware that they did not mdma in the first place? and if he did know that they were not on our list of scheduled drugs... why did he fail to declare them? i m sure he will be enjoying his gin and tonic tonight... and malta's youth will be enjoying their Es... appalling!

Winnie Granger

Nov 2nd 2009, 19:45

Did someone mention compensation in Malta, one got more chance of winning the jackpot then getting compensation from the Maltese. LOL

JOE attard

Nov 2nd 2009, 19:12

even if u hide 50000 panadols u sound so smelly !...let alone this ''mdma'' based substance... this is RIDICULOUS !!!!

C.Formosa

Nov 2nd 2009, 19:10

Don't push it Dr Brincat, One thing is clear here; he has been released on a technicality, he is most certainly not the victim. Hope you're not too pleased with yourself.

Joseph Ellis

Nov 2nd 2009, 18:39

It's all very simple, really. Nulla poena sine lege : no punishment without a law. Indeed, this guy is a victim of our criminal justice system as he was convicted of a crime that did not exist in our statute book. The Attorney-General's Office should be held responsible for this blatant miscarriage of justice and whoever pressed on with his prosecution should tender his resignation. Otherwise, the rule of law would mean nothing in this country.

Jesmond Micallef

Nov 2nd 2009, 18:26

Fact - Hidden 50,000 Pils of chemical substance !!!
Fact - Imported in by sea, meaning not at an airport, and on what day ? The day when the world cup kicks off !!!

Adrian Wirth

Nov 2nd 2009, 17:44

Are we perhaps seeing increasing evidence that the present deliverers of justice, the provisions for periods of incarceration and the methodology employed in the prosecution of justice, are all no longer 'fit for purpose'.
Maybe it is time for serious consideration to be given for a top to bottom appraisal of the functioning of the whole justice system. That review covering the degree of evidence to be demanded of the prosecuting officers and their capacity and ability to deliver social expectancies given modern technological advances and how that fits existing law, including European law. The outcome may recommend the professional retraining of officers and even perhaps the introduction of a new branch of prosecuting officer from a legal background to assess, evaluate and recommend additional areas for investigation, prior to a case being brought to court.
In recent months the number of cases resulting in significant compensation payments by the state to wrongly accused individuals appears to have increased significantly as also the sums of compensation awarded. Those Appeal cases won by appellants and the awards made go a long way to indicating the seriousness of the incipient problem.

Jesmond Micallef

Nov 2nd 2009, 17:41

I am glad that the drugs did not make it into the Maltese market and into Maltese youth hands. Watching the video clip above, he seems to be quite a mature British adult !!!

I congratulate the Malta Police Force for not letting such chemicals fall into the hands of much younger less mature Maltese youth !!

I thank very much.

Joe Fenech

Nov 2nd 2009, 17:23

U mela, issa ghamluh vittma !!!!!

M Attard

Nov 2nd 2009, 16:52

any mention of substantial compensation along with the judgment?