Imprisoned Welshman Daniel Holmes is in the process of filing a case against Malta in the European Court of Human Rights, attacking not only the lengthy proceedings but also what he believes is an excessive punishment.
Mr Holmes is currently serving 10-and-a-half years in prison after cultivating cannabis. He recently had a €7,000 compensation award revoked after a Constitutional Court found that his rights were not breached by trial delays.
The court found that, even though the case took longer than “was strictly necessary”, the delay could not be deemed a breach of Mr Holmes’s right to a trial within a reasonable time.
Now that all the local avenues have been exhausted, his lawyers Franco Debono and Michela Spiteri are in the process of taking the matter to the ECHR. They are claiming that their client’s grievances were not properly addressed by the Maltese courts.
Contacted yesterday, Dr Debono said that what was “worrying and unjust” was that, while the case served as a springboard to raise awareness about the need for important reforms and the updating of “archaic procedures”, Mr Holmes had not been afforded an adequate remedy.
Among others, he mentioned the right to legal assistance and disclosure for suspects, the Attorney General’s unfettered discretion in drug cases, adequate legal aid and a proper sentencing policy to avoid discriminatory judgments.
Daniel has so far lost nine years of his life due to judicial inefficiencies, mistakes, and badly worded laws
The facts of the case go back to June 2006, when Mr Holmes was arrested in Gozo and charged with the importation, cultivation, possession and sale of cannabis.
The police seized over a kilo of cannabis and 0.24 grams of cannabis resin with a total value of €11,694. The total weight of the cannabis included roots and stalks that are not consumables.
In November 2011, he was sentenced to jail and fined €23,000. This decision was confirmed on appeal in 2013. Since then, Mr Holmes has embarked on a constitutional battle, claiming his rights were breached.
The recent Constitutional Court decision drew the ire of his relatives, particularly his parents Kate and Mel who told The Sunday Times of Malta they felt the decision was even more insulting than the first financial award.
“We are so frustrated and upset at the Attorney General’s callous attitude in appealing even the first court’s meagre award. He seems to lack understanding, tolerance and flexibility... all other countries in Europe would consider this a misdemeanour, but Daniel has so far lost nine years of his life due to judicial inefficiencies, mistakes, and badly worded laws. [His case] has all the appearance of a vendetta against him,” they said.
They said they are struggling to stretch their pensions to cover legal costs to pursue justice.
“Daniel has already spent four years and 125 days in jail, and has been detained on the island for more than six years, which any reasonable person would agree is quite enough punishment for the crime he actually committed,” they said, adding how he had two young children who were waiting for him to be reunited with them.