Three company directors and two fishing boat captains today pleaded not guilty to maritime regulatory breaches.

D Holdings Ltd’s company director David Debono and the Egyptian captain of the vessel Rosnik, Ahmed Said Abdellativ Mohammed Hemdia Elsakka were charged with allowing the vessel to be skippered by an unauthorised captain, giving false information to the authorities and failing to ensure the vessel had the correct markings while at sea.

Mr Elsakka was also charged with delaying the authorities’ investigations by not lowering an embarkation ladder fast enough for investigating officers.

The court granted the men bail against a deposit of €500 and a personal guarantee of €5,000.

Meanwhile, Mario and Anthony Azzopardi, directors of Hannibal Fishing Ltd and Mohamed Fathalla Tawfik Elnaggar, captain of the Hannibal 1, were arraigned on similar charges.

Defence lawyer Joe Giglio, contested the validity of the arrest.

Although prosecuting Inspector Darrel Borg confirmed that he had charged the men on the back of a letter sent by the Fisheries Department to the Valletta police station, he confirmed he had not questioned them.

Dr Giglio asked why the men had been arraigned under arrest today, several days after the police had received the letter and argued this was grounds for the arrest to be declared illegal.

Agreeing with the defence, the court, led by Magistrate Neville Camilleri, held that the arrest of Mario and Andrew Azzopardi was not justified and ordered their immediate release. It decided, however, that the arrest of the Egyptian captain was justified as he did not have sufficient ties to the island.
The court granted Mr Elnaggar bail against a deposit of €500 and a personal guarantee of €5,000. He was also ordered to surrender his travel documents.

Inspectors Darryl Borg and Jeffrey Scicluna led the prosecution.