The lawyer of a man facing a trial by jury over human trafficking insisted yesterday there was no evidence linking his client to the charges and that, if anything, he should have been accused of fraud.

If anything, his intention was not to help them leave Malta but to defraud them

Malcolm Mifsud said his client should be cleared also because the witnesses heard were not consistent in their versions.

He was addressing jurors in the trial of 61-year-old Adam Hasan Mohammed Khemis, from Sudan, presided over by Mr Justice Michael Mallia.

Mr Khemis is pleading not guilty to involvement in helping a group of immigrants attempt to leave Malta for Italy illegally three years ago.

The lawyer referred to the testimony of Ibrahim Cone who said he had given the accused €850 for a journey to Italy because he had known “he had done it before”.

Dr Mifsud questioned this, adding that the police report the migrants had filed was the fruit of their “envy” because while his client was chosen to start a new life in France, they had not. He said it was “too coincidental” that the police report was filed against his client the day before he was meant to be transferred to France.

Dr Mifsud said that while the defence believed that it was not true that the witnesses gave him €850, if the jurors chose to believe their version, they should also consider that there was no evidence to show any link between Mr Khemis and human trafficking.

“If anything, his intention was not to help them leave Malta illegally but to defraud them. In fact, when the migrants went to the police, they reported him for having stolen their money after fooling them into believing that he would help them leave Malta. He is not accused of fraud,” the lawyer noted.

Dr Mifsud accused the police of being inefficient, adding that they had not even taken a statement from Mr Khemis when he was arrested.

Lawyer Aaron Bugeja, head of the criminal section at the Attorney General’s office, argued that all witnesses pointed at Mr Khemis as the person who had promised them a trip to Italy so they could start a new life there. Their testimonies had been consistent, Dr Bugeja insisted.

Dr Bugeja is assisted by lawyer Giannella Busuttil.

The trial continues.