Appeal court confirms custody was illegal

A court of criminal appeal confirmed that a magistrate had failed to follow procedure leading to a man charged with human trafficking being illegally remanded in custody.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Michael Mallia upheld a decision handed down by the first court, which ruled that Magistrate Giovanni Grixti had not followed procedure during the arraignment of Simon Haber last week.

Mr Haber, 27, had been remanded in custody after he pleaded not guilty to smuggling an immigrant out of the island. His lawyer Joe Giglio was absent for the sitting.

Dr Giglio argued that he had actually arrived for the sitting at the time he was instructed to by the court but found that the hearing was over and his client had been remanded in custody.

He held that Magistrate Grixti had breached procedure when he ruled on bail without allowing the lawyer of the accused to make his case.

The case came before Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera who, in a 14-page judgment, declared the man’s arrested illegal.

The Attorney General contested the ruling and Mr Haber’s release and filed an appeal.

In the judgment, Mr Justice Mallia noted that prosecuting Inspector Edel Mary Camilleri testified that the issue of bail had not been discussed during the arraignment.

He agreed with Magistrate Scerri Herrera’s ruling that procedure was not followed and granted Mr Haber bail against a personal guarantee of €7,000.