Briton demands compensation for 11 months of detention

matthew azzopardi

Jan 11th 2010, 19:36

over 11 months in custody" ......... tough!!!

pat camilleri

Jan 11th 2010, 19:01

THIS African with a British Passport has certainly learnt ,probably in Britain, the country which gave him refuge,how to exploit the system.Talking about biting the hand which feeds you.Mr Morana I agree with everything you say, and hope that the Attorney General will heed what you say.We are being taken for a ride here, as they are in England all the time, by these people who have no allegiance to the country which give them refuge and instead of being given nationality should be sent back to their country of origin.Do we need all this aggravation on this island? I and many like me say no. We are waiting to see the outcome.

JF bartolo snr

Jan 11th 2010, 18:54

@D.Scerri @And to think we are paying taxes for this Briton, the authorities in Malta are either naive or are taken for a bunch of idiots. I will gladly pay my dues or taxes to help my Maltese brethrens but i would certainly object to paying compensation to an as i understand from one comment below, an african with a british passport.

M. Avellino

Jan 11th 2010, 18:50

OH here we go again. Soon all caught criminals will be sueing the Police for taking criminal action against then instead of the other way round. ...and the Police will be locked up in prison for doing their job. whilst those not caught go for it again. Human rights? What next???

Joseph R Aquilina

Jan 11th 2010, 18:48

Now court cases, and appeals therefrom, involving drug runners are being decided on the basis of advanced organic chemistry, rather than proof or otherwise of wilful mailicious intent of the criminal to hurt innocent members of society. Whatever happened to "Mens Rea" ? And to boot the Malta Governmnet has to pay compensation? The money should be spent on making sure that in this fast developing international drug scene Malta updates its Banned Drugs Register daily

Muscat D

Jan 11th 2010, 17:56

I bet if the person had succeeded in selling the Khat, he would have registered with the Vat department, paid all vat due, paid taxes on the profits, registered with the ETC and paid National Insurance. I'm sure he had an invoice to accompany the goods in question and seeing that they were legal drugs had obtained clearance from the health department.

Joseph Stafrace

Jan 11th 2010, 17:15

@ Joe Morana
If I am not mistaken att time of importation 'khat' was not listed under the dangerious drugs Act; so Mr. Khayre could not be found guilty of importing a prohibited drug. Its only recently that the law has been amended.

D. Scerri

Jan 11th 2010, 16:58

He is not a Briton, he is an African with a British passport.

Steve Mizzi

Jan 11th 2010, 16:55

@Joe Morana - a "dangerous precedent" would be what you are suggesting, the Law Courts are there to apply the current laws of the land and not to find loop holes to rub salt into the wound of a person who was knowingly accused and convicted of something that was perfectly legal in Malta at the time.

To put it into perspective, how would you feel if you were incarcerated for importing a bottle of vodka into Malta?

Some studys consider alcohol to be more detrimental to a person's health than Marijuana but it is legal here.

In my opinion the Policemen and the Prosecutor/s involved should themselves face trial for knowingly and wrongfully depriving an innocent person of his freedom.

The case of Steve Marsden is even worse, because he was convicted because according to the prosecution he "thought" he was importing an illegal drug. A great precedent for anyone caught importing marijuana, they can always say that they "thought" they were importing mixed herbs as a defence... What's good for the goose is good for the gander

Ramon Casha

Jan 11th 2010, 16:50

@Joe Morana: The only dangerous precedent is your proposal: that of imprisoning people who have not broken any law by filing "creative" charges.

If the law is flawed, then fix the law. Since the importation of khat was not, at the time, illegal, then Mr. Khayre was perfectly within his rights to import it and to demand compensation for what was, in effect, an illegal arrest.

Paul Barrett

Jan 11th 2010, 16:08

Fine - give him compensation at the rate of say Euro 1000 per month for his time.
Then present him with a bill for Euro 2000 per month for food and accommodation plus of course Euro 5 per night bed tax.

If I remember the case, did he not try and import "a concealed chemical substance" through Customs - perhaps he can be charged with that when he comes to collect his compensation.

G. Attard

Jan 11th 2010, 16:08

Joe Morana, that is very good arguement and I partially agree with you. However while the drug may be banned in some countries is not the topic here. There was injustice and a man convicted of no crime was in custody when legally, he did no wrong. I believe the person should get compensated for wrongful imprisonment, however we all know that will not happen, not in Malta. If this happened in another country and the media exposed it, heads would roll and resignations would follow, but not here. We wouldn't want the huge bubble that is the ego of the justice system in Malta to pop now would we? Can you think of the mess something that big popping would make? And Britain has problems with snow......

Joe Morana

Jan 11th 2010, 15:53

Cathinone and cathine relate to the infamous 'khat', of which I wrote some time ago. It induces a delusional sense of euphoria and `invincibility'. It is addictive, and is banned in many countries, while it is legal in others. The World Health Organisation classifies it as an addictive drug that could have anti-social ramifications.

It would behoove the Attorney General to be creative and file new chargesagainst the accused, otherwise a dangerous precedent could be set by this case.

t. borg

Jan 11th 2010, 15:51

For correctness if I am not mistaken he is Somali holding a British refugee passport. Foreign cases should be put on fast track and not keeping them arrested. I also disagree for keeping people who are considered innocent on house arrest which is inhuman