An alleged bomb hoax caller claimed his human rights were breached when he was ordered to give samples of his voice for comparison with recordings of the calls.

Richard Cuschieri, 40, from Ħamrun, argued that if samples were to be given the court would effectively be incriminating him, leading to a breach of his fundamental human rights.

Mr Cuschieri filed a Constitutional application after Magistrate Saviour Demicoli acceded to a police request and ordered him to give voice samples so that a court-appointed expert could make a comparison.

According to the police, Mr Cuschieri, a contractor by profession, made five phone calls to the court house alleging that there was a bomb on March 16 and 26, April 19, May 31 and June 25 last year.

They would incriminate him

Sources close to the case said he was due to appear in court over fraud-related charges. He was also charged with lodging false reports to the police and causing fear of violence.

According to the police, the calls were made from his mobile phone and telephone booths and sophisticated mobile location devices were used as part of the investigations into the bomb hoaxes.

Mr Cuschieri’s application said the law did not allow courts to order voice samples as it would lead to incrimination. They were able to order DNA samples, fingerprints and photographs of the accused.

He asked the court to declare his human rights were breached, to revoke the order to give samples and provide a remedy. Lawyers Veronique Dalli and Dean Hili appeared for Mr Cuschieri.