A man accused of being the mastermind in a human trafficking case was found not guilty by a Maltese court late last night.

The jurors in the trial against the man, Hadish Abayu, 58, of Ethiopian origin, gave their verdict shortly before midnight.

Mr Abayu was acquitted of the charges of having organised a boat trip for 181 immigrants to travel from Libya to Italy on September 25, 2005.

At the first sight of land, the migrants thought that they had reached Sicily, only to be informed that there had been a change of plans and that they were being taken to Malta.

Earlier this week, the testimonies of 10 Eritrean migrants were read out in court. They said that they had paid money to Mr Hadish for a passage out of Libya with Italy being their final destination.

Madame Justice Edwina Grima presided over the trial. Lawyer Vincienne Vella prosecuted. Lawyer Simon Micallef Stafrace was defence counsel.

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