Norman Lowell yesterday filed a "very urgent" application in the criminal court asking for an investigation into who had altered the time of a court case sitting on the subpoena sent to him.

Mr Lowell filed the application claiming he had been summoned to appear in court on Tuesday at 11.30 a.m. for the continuation of the case in which he is pleading not guilty to inciting racial hatred and insulting and denigrating the President of Malta.

Mr Lowell said that the subpoena sent to him originally indicated that the case was at 9 a.m. However, someone struck off the original time and instead wrote 11.30 a.m. in red ink. Thus, Mr Lowell believed the sitting on Tuesday would start at 11.30 a.m.

However, the magistrate called the case at 10 a.m. and when he did not turn up, she issued a warrant of arrest against him ordering that he be taken to court under arrest for the next sitting. He was also fined Lm25 for not appearing in court.

In a 10-page application, Mr Lowell called on the court to investigate who had altered the time in his subpeana as this could have seriously prejudiced his case.

He voiced concern over the matter adding that this was a case in which freedom of expression, thought and communication was in the dock. Finally, he asked the court to decide on the application with urgency.

Lawyer Emmy Bezzina signed the application.