One of the two men involved in the hijack of an Afriqiyah Airlines Airbus 320 to Malta just before Christmas 2016 has been granted bail.

The plane was on an internal flight when it was hijacked and forced to land in Malta by pro-Gaddafi loyalists. The hijackers surrendered here and no one was injured. 

Soko Moussa Shaha Ali, and Ali Ahmed Saleh, both in their 20s, were arrested after releasing the 109 passengers and seven crew members on board.

They had threatened to blow up the plane but their weapons later turned out to be fake. 

READ: Plane hijack drama in Malta ends; all hostages released 

The two were arraigned on Christmas Day 2016 amid tight security and have been awaiting trial since, while facing the prospect of life imprisonment if found guilty.

READ: Libyan hijackers plead not guilty - taken to court under heavy escort

By means of an application filed last week, Mr Soko Moussa’s lawyer argued that his client was entitled to release from preventive arrest in terms of law, provided that he could adequately guarantee the observance of bail conditions.

Moreover, the court was bound to grant bail once the maximum term of preventive arrest envisaged by law had run its course.

Replying to the request, the Office of the Attorney General pointed out that not only had Mr Soko Moussa, been the mastermind behind the attack and the one who had played a major role in the hijack, but the accused also failed to satisfy the requisites for bail as expressly laid down by law.

The man had no ties in Malta, no fixed address and lacked financial means, making the risk of absconding a real one, the AG argued, adding that the court also needed to protect society at large.

Whilst taking note of these submissions, the court observed that in terms of the current provisions on bail as laid down under the Criminal Code, the court “must” rather than “may” grant bail once the maximum term of preventive arrest had expired.

Where the crime was liable to a term of imprisonment exceeding 15 years, bail was to be granted “upon the lapse of 30 months” from the date of the presentation of the charges, namely the day of arraignment which in this case dated back to Christmas Day 2016.

The court should be allowed discretion for the purpose of striking a balance between the rights of the accused and those of society- Judge

Faced with such a scenario, the court called upon parliament to effect the necessary amendments in respect of requests for bail by persons charged with acts of terrorism.

“In such cases, if anything, the court should be allowed discretion for the purpose of striking a balance between the rights of the accused and those of society,” Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera declared.

Although the reasons listed by the AG were normally valid arguments militating against the granting of bail, such reasons faltered under the circumstances envisaged by article 575(7) of the Criminal Code which declared that “Bail shall also always be granted to a person accused of an offence unless…..there has been a final judgment acquitting, convicting or sentencing the person so accused.”

Such instances presented the “ideal” scenario wherein electronic monitoring could effectively come into play, “greatly relieving the police of their burden in conducting physical monitoring, such as shadowing, so as to ascertain that the person is abiding by court orders as listed in the bail decree,” stated Madam Justice Scerri Herrera, making reference to previous pronouncements wherein she had made such a recommendation.

The  court granted Mr Soko Moussa bail on condition that he supplied a fixed address in Malta, signed the bail book and paid a deposit of €20,000, besides providing a personal guarantee of €50,000.

The court further barred the accused from leaving Malta.

Lawyer George Anton Buttigieg was defence counsel to Mr Soko Moussa.

Lawyers Elaine Mercieca Rizzo and Charles Mercieca from the AG’s Office prosecuted.

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