I refer to the article reporting that a man was denied a fair trial and awarded €10,000 plus costs, by the European Court of Human Rights, as damages (December 3).

As my name was mentioned and though I am completely extraneous to the case, I feel it is my duty to express my feeling (which is not new, nor am I alone) that the Office of the Attorney General was far below the level of expectation in dealing with the issue.

It is common knowledge that a perfunctory attitude fails to reach the required level of service in the interest of justice. Much more is demanded.

That “the applicant had originally not been able to identify the assailant, back in 1995” is factual nonsense, light years away from the truth. The police inspector in the case, as well as my own evidence, had made it clear that the assailants responsible were the ones mentioned to the police on their arrival to the scene of the crime, before sunrise on that day and not a day later.

The inspector also testified that the figurative bucket of gold – “bramel tad-deheb” – was mentioned on the same day to the police. There was certainly no acquittal here, nor was any arraignment ever made – contrary to what was reported.

It is evident that the case was based on some 30 circumstances, all pointing one way, where even if one is accepted by the court it would suffice as a basis for decision.

Purely in objective light, I am amazed that defendant Malta failed to highlight these points. Here, a plethora of eloquent evidence, the hunting under a reading-glass for the omission of a comma, or for the chance of writing of Peter for Paul, obviously has little consequence on the scale of justice. The case ended in a “no doubt at all” decision.

More important is the fact that the AG failed to accentuate the reality that applicant disappeared after the incident and unbelievably testified that he never spoke one word to me after the hold-up, not even to say that he was not involved; surely and clearly, an attitude not at all consistent with the plea of innocence.

Nelson-like, especially in matters of justice, Malta expects every man to do his duty.

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