A man currently facing drug-trafficking proceedings following his arraignment last month has been granted bail after spending a month under preventive arrest.

Josef Mahouchi had been arrested in January together with a Dutch man who had admitted to conspiracy to traffic some 300 grams of cocaine and possession of drugs not for personal use.

Mr Mahouchi had denied the charges and was remanded in custody.

However, the Criminal Court, presided over by Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera, on Wednesday upheld an application filed by defence lawyer Mario Mifsud requesting bail.

Although having a foreign surname, the accused was a Maltese national, had strong ties in Malta and had also cooperated fully with the police. Moreover, most of the civilian witnesses had already testified, the court was told.

The Attorney General had countered that the charges were serious and the accused was not trustworthy, since he had allegedly committed an offence while under a suspended sentence.

While observing that the gravity of the charges was not to be taken in isolation, the court further noted that, though not spotless, “it could not be said that it is a terrifying criminal record, as this court is often faced with”.

Moreover, pending testimony by civilian witnesses was not a sufficient bar to the granting of bail, the court said, therby upholding the application against a deposit of €25,000, a personal guarantee of €25,000, an order to sign a bail book twice daily and to abide by a curfew.

Inspector Anthony Scerri prosecuted, while lawyer Elaine Mercieca appeared on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General. Lawyer Mario Mifsud is defence counsel.