Two directors of a local fishing company were acquitted of breaching fishing regulations and the person in charge of the vessel of having kept a valid captain's licence on board. The latter was however fined €3,000.

Mario and Anthony Azzopardi, directors of Hannibal Fishing Ltd, together with Egyptian national Mohamed Fathalla Tawfik Elnaggar, as captain of the Maltese-flagged Hannibal I, were charged with the operation of the fishing vessel without a valid licence and with several other infringements.

The court, presided by magistrate Joseph Mifsud, noted that the charges ought to have been filed against Mario and Anthony Azzopardi in their capacity as directors. Since they were charged in their personal capacity the court acquitted them of all charges brought against them.

With respect to the Captain Elnaggar, the court observed that an application for the renewal of his licence was actually being processed by the Department of Fisheries at the time of arrest. Mr Elnaggar had been previously acknowledged as captain of the Hannibal I and still featured on the crew list.

However, at the time of the arrest on August 17, the person in charge of the fishing vessel had failed to produce a licence and this, the court declared, was in violation of legal requirements. It was also proved that Mr Elnaggar had not followed the rules regarding the proper marking of fishing vessels. The court therefore declared the defendant guilty on these two counts and condemned him to a fine of €3,000.

However, he was found not guilty of having furnished the authorities with documents containing false evidence.

The court ordered the immediate release of the fish stocks which had been seized by the authorities.

In its judgment, the court observed that the cooperation between the Fisheries Department and the police in this case was lacking. Given the technical issues involved, the prosecution ought to have sought the assistance of a lawyer specialised in the matter. Moreover, the prosecution failed tp produce the quoted EU legislation relevant to the case in court.

"It is tantamount to contempt for a party to expect the court to leaf through 79 pages of regulations... to make out which regulation has been violated as alleged by the Director of Fisheries and Aquaculture."

Lawyer Joe Giglio was counsel to all three accused.