Three former soldiers have been acquitted of the involuntary homicide of a Nigerian man at the Ħal Far detention centre back in April 2011.
Roderick Azzopardi, 33, from Żabbar, Aldo Simiana, 46, from Birkirkara and Carmela Camilleri, 60, from Żurrieq, stood accused of having caused the death of 29-year old Ifeanyi Nwokaye, through their negligence and non-observance of regulations.
Mr Nwokaye died on the night on April 16, when six immigrants had escaped from detention. Two of these, one being the victim, had been recaptured shortly after while still within the precincts of the detention centre.
The victim had been caught as he tried to scale a fence. He was restrained by one soldier, handcuffed and pushed face-down into a van and punched by the officer in charge, Mr Azzopardi.
Mr Nwokaye was later carried into an isolation cell, where he was left on the floor for an hour or so, before being rushed to hospital after being discovered still lying unconscious by the other two co-accused, Mr Simiana and Ms Camilleri.
The victim died of a heart attack on his way to hospital and the three officers were later charged with involuntary homicide.
In court, the prosecution had explained that the charge had been one of involuntary rather than wilful homicide since evidence showed that the victim had not died as a direct result of the beating suffered at the hands of the officers, but through mistreatment and non-observance of regulations in his recapture.
There had been “immense recklessness,” bordering on the inhuman, in the way which the victim had been handled, the prosecution insisted.
Yet defence lawyers Joe Giglio, Veronique Dalli and Mario Mifsud, argued that the victim had died as a result of a pre-existing medical condition which he had not disclosed to the detention officers.
In a lengthy 137-page judgment the court, presided over by magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, observed that this was an exceptionally complex case since the accused were officers to whom a stricter code of conduct applied.
Yet, not every human error resulted in criminal liability, the court observed, pointing out that medical experts had reported that the deceased had presented no external signs of violence, other than a bruise that “did not, in any way, contribute to his death.”
Praising both the prosecution’s and the defence’s arguments as serious and detailed, the court concluded that, on the basis of all evidence put forward, no causal link had been proved between the actions of the accused and the victim’s death. This meant that the crime of involuntary homicide “could never subsist.”
Whilst agreeing with the prosecution that Mr Azzopardi “did not treat people with dignity,” the court acquitted all three of the charge of involuntary homicide. The secondary charge regarding the abuse of authority by the public officers required intent and therefore could not result within the context of an involuntary offence.
Inspector Keith Arnaud prosecuted. Lawyer Joe Giglio was counsel to Mr Azzopardi. Lawyer Veronique Dalli was counsel to Mr Simiana while Ms Camilleri was assisted by lawyer Mario Mifsud.