A wanted French couple at the centre of colourful extradition proceedings has its appeal to stay in Malta but will not leave the island until a Constitutional application has been decided.
Looking remarkably healthier than the last time he appeared in court, the 49-year-old leader of a spiritual sect, Alain Schmitt, walked into the hall and found his seat, unaided, despite being 98 per cent blind.
Last Thursday, he was brought into the courtroom on a wheelchair with a drip attached to his left arm and crouched to one side looking rather pale. Less than 24 hours earlier he had allegedly gone on a hunger strike, which, apparently, started on Wednesday at 9 a.m. last week and ended the following day in the morning with a "good breakfast".
Mr Schmitt's 47-year-old girlfriend, Laurence Liegeois, sat and listened intently as both appeal judgments were read out by Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano, who dismissed both requests.
The couple is wanted by the French authorities for escaping from prison following their convictions for kidnapping, extortion and illegal arrest.
During a court sitting on Friday, defence lawyer Emmy Bezzina had argued that, because of his vision impairment and type 1 diabetes, Mr Schmitt was unable to follow the proceedings despite being aided by an interpreter. In fact, he filed a judicial protest on Monday saying that Mr Schmitt's health had deteriorated considerably while he was at the Forensic Unit in Mount Carmel Hospital supervised by consultant psychiatrist Joseph Spiteri.
The couple filed a Constitutional application last Friday claiming that throughout their arrest and the proceedings before the Magistrates' Court, which began on January 7, there were serious breaches of their human rights.
According to law, following the appeal judgment, the couple was meant to be extradited within 10 days, however, since the Constitutional application is still pending that would have to be decided before any further steps can be taken.
During the proceedings, Dr Bezzina asked for permission for the couple to get married here. However, the Catholic Church denied the request.
In one of the more light-hearted court sittings last month, lawyer Donatella Frendo Dimech, from the Attorney General's Office, with tongue in cheek, offered to be flower girl in the wedding ceremony after Dr Bezzina said he would be best man.