Police deny allegations on arrest of attempted theft suspect

The police yesterday flatly denied allegations that a Nigerian man had been wrongly charged with resisting arrest when officers in plain clothes tried to pick him up in an unmarked car without identifying themselves.

According to Dominican priest Fr Mark Montebello, who issued a statement about the case, Monday Iseki, 33, was taken into custody on February 10 after being picked up in St Paul's Bay.

He said Mr Iseki was walking home with a friend when "an unmarked car with two or three men in civilian clothes" drove next to them. The two carried on walking but, Fr Montebello said, the car followed them until one of the men grabbed Mr Iseki by his clothes.

"Mr Iseki instinctively pushed the man's hand away from him and began running away from the car," Fr Montebello said.

He said a police car stopped close by and Mr Iseki went to speak to the officers, who told him to get into the car.

The police, however, categorically denied this and insisted, in a counter-statement, that the officers who picked up Mr Iseki were all in uniform and in a clearly marked car. They asked Mr Iseki to board the vehicle so he could be escorted to police headquarters for questioning but he fled. The police gave chase and, on being apprehended, Mr Iseki continued to resist arrest and slightly injured one of the officers in the knee, as certified by a doctor from the Mosta health centre.

He was taken to the police station, where he was informed he was suspected of trying to rob Misty Blue Bar, in Buġibba, the police said.

According to Fr Montebello, at that point, he was told the police had CCTV footage showing him going to the bar after closing hours with the intention of robbing the establishment. But after being held in custody for three days, Mr Iseki was told the man in the recording was not him, Fr Montebello said.

Again, the police gave a totally different version, pointing out that Mr Iseki was kept in custody at police headquarters' lock up from 7.15 p.m. on February 10 till 12.10 p.m. on February 12 when he was arraigned.

The police also said Fr Montebello was not correct in saying that Mr Iseki had no face-to-face meeting with the investigating officer. "Mr Iseki was duly spoken to by the investigating officer immediately after being arrested and taken in custody by the police".

Finally, the police pointed out that Fr Montebello had been briefed of the details and procedures concerning the case by the investigating officer himself.

Fr Montebello also took issue with what happened in court. Mr Iseki - who arrived in Malta in June 2007 - was charged with slightly injuring a policeman, disobeying a legitimate order and resisting arrest.

He was denied bail and sent to prison and never met the legal aid lawyer he was assigned, Fr Montebello said.

When contacted, lawyer Mark Busuttil, who was assigned Mr Iseki's case, defended the fact that he had not yet met his client, saying there were only four legal aid lawyers and they could not cope with the workload.

Asked whether he was surprised that Mr Iseki was not granted bail, Dr Busuttil said foreigners started at a disadvantage because many had no fixed address.