Somali loses call for compensation

A Somali who was acquitted of importing khat on appeal lost a call for compensation today when the Constitutional court ruled that the wait was not excessive.

Khalif Id Ahmed, who was arrested in July 2006 was found guilty three years later. He was then acquitted on appeal.

He wanted compensation for having to wait three years arguing that this was in direct breach of his human rights.

In his judgement, Mr Justice Tonio Mallia ruled that because of the complexity of the situation legally, the three year wait was not excessive.

He said that given the sudden influx of irregular migrants, especially from Somalia, the authorities had been faced with a “novel situation” where certain so called drugs used as a matter of course in these countries started being brought into Malta.

He said that while the plant imported was not prohibited, some of its components were, and the courts had initially been faced with the delicate issue of deciding whether or not there was a breach of the law.

Although the identification of the nature and content of the imported drug was easy to determine through scientific evidence, the issue of the legality of the act was not so easy.