An 18-year old has spoken of his "humiliation" while being strip-searched in the streets of Gozo during one of the roadblocks held on the island during carnival weekend.

It was the second roadblock the Birkirkara youth and his four male friends had encountered, having already been stopped and searched in Ċirkewwa before boarding the ferry.

Later, on their way to a party, they were stopped again by the Armed Forces where they felt the soldiers went too far.

Accompanied by his father when speaking to The Sunday Times, the youth recounted his story on condition of anonymity: "We were stopped in a side street. Without any greeting we were told to get out of the car. They started searching us and each one of us had to remove our clothing all the way down to our boxer shorts. The soldiers then stuck their foot between our heels to force our legs open and they searched us.

"We were told if we did not cooperate we would be passed on to the police for questioning," he said, adding that the soldiers were difficult to identify because, unlike police, they did not have ID numbers on their clothing.

Nothing incriminating was found following the thorough search - as was the case for several others who said they were repeatedly targeted for searches.

The stories emerged after this newspaper last week reported that the European Court of Human Rights declared police stop and search powers in the UK - broadly similar to those given to the police and army in Malta - were illegal because they violated an individual's right to privacy.

In last January's ruling, the ECHR said such powers led to discrimination because people were stopped on the basis of a "hunch" or "professional intuition".

This was confirmed by a number of individuals who approached The Sunday Times following the publication of last week's story. All were aged under 30, and in each case nothing had been found during inspection.

Lionel Brincat, 24, from Pietà, was also stopped in the Ċirkewwa AFM roadblocks on carnival weekend, although it was not his first experience.

He recalled one incident where, after he was frisked, the soldiers handed back his wallet open, and money fell out. Mr Brincat claimed he was accused of throwing drugs out of the wallet and told he would be detained. Feeling "abused" because he never touched drugs, he said he was relieved when the commanding officer eventually let him go.

"I could not understand where he thought I could have been hiding the drugs when I had already been frisked and my pockets and wallet searched. I really felt humiliated that night... but I did not dare complain," he added.

Ryan Falzon and Eve Wilkson said their experiences over the years led them to believe soldiers were stopping people just on the grounds of age and appearance. They also accused soldiers of targeting people from particular areas.

Ms Wilkinson, 21, said she had lost count how often they had been stopped.

"When we are with Ryan's modified car we are always stopped, but when we are with my Mercedes we are not. And when we used to live in Qormi, roadblocks were regular. Now we live in Naxxar, it barely happens," Ms Wilkinson said.

But they got stopped earlier this month, on their way to visit her boyfriend's grandmother in Rabat, with younger relatives in the car.

The five people in the car had to wait for almost an hour until it was their turn to be searched. They were forced to keep their windows closed for the entire time and ordered not to use their mobile phones while a soldier stood on guard. This procedure was verified by all those who spoke to this newspaper.

Her boyfriend, a 23-year-old university law student, said: "It is our right to answer our phones. We were not under arrest. Where is the presumption of innocence?"

Online reactions to The Sunday Times' story last week included comments by those favouring roadblocks, based on the notion that "those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear".

Mr Falzon said these arguments were normally made by those who had never been stopped and searched.

"They are targeting youths, according to their idea of who could be a potential criminal," he said.

His comments were in line with reader John Borg's view: "The process is discriminatory. I am never stopped in roadblocks but my son is regularly subjected to frisking. They are easy prey because they do not know their rights. If done legitimately, every parent should be grateful, but where is the 'reasonable suspicion' in all this?"

Mr Borg objected to the military doing police work: "This is not a war zone. Why are the soldiers getting involved?"

The AFM said roadblocks are conducted apropriately as required in support of local law enforcement authorities, adding that discretion is applied professionally when sampling vehicles and/or people to be checked. Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici last week said the ECHR ruling did not "at face value" change Maltese law, because stop and search powers could only be exercised if the police had 'reasonable suspicion'. The minister said if somebody felt aggrieved, he had the right to seek redress.

But leading criminal lawyers said this legal remedy was not proving effective.

cmuscat@timesofmalta.com