Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1516608
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 28 FEBRUARY 2024 NEWS Daniel Meli accused of having offered malware products, services in US CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Meli's extradition had been requested by the Northern Dis- trict of Georgia following his in- dictment in December 2023, for computer access, damage and interception-related offences. US prosecutors accuse Meli of having offered malware prod- ucts and services, amongst them the Pegasus remote access trojan (RAT), for sale to cybercriminals through online computer-hack- ing forums "since at least 2012." He had been arraigned on Feb- ruary 9 and had given his consent to the extradition request during that sitting. But after changing lawyers, Meli filed an appeal. Mr. Justice Neville Camilleri delivered judgement on that ap- peal this morning, upholding the counter-arguments submitted by prosecutor Sean Xerri de Caro from the Attorney General's of- fice. The judge rejected the appel- lant's argument that the first court had been bound to take into account Meli's history of mental health issues, his stays in psychiatric care and the related medication he was taking. The Court of Magistrates was not supposed to investigate whether his acceptance of the ex- tradition request had been made voluntarily or not, said the judge, and neither was it required to or- der a physical or psychological ex- amination of the defendants who admit guilt before it. "From the acts of the proceedings which the First Court had before it and from that which took place on the day that Meli was arraigned in court, there is absolutely nothing that in some way or another could lead the First Court to doubt Meli's ac- ceptance," said the court. In addition, the court noted that the Court of Magistrates had dictated a note, recording Meli's declaration that he was consent- ing to his extradition and invok- ing the rule of speciality - which means that he was only consent- ing to being extradited to answer the charges mentioned in the ex- tradition request. It was not necessary for that court to specify, in the final part of the judgement, that the rule of speciality was to be applied, ruled the judge, before going on to dis- miss his other grounds of appeal. "It is without any hesitation that this Court notes that the appel- lant's claim of the first court's or- der being null and without effect, to be untrue." The judge observed that the re- quirements listed in the Extradi- tion Act are to be taken as having been satisfied when the request- ed person voluntarily gave their consent to be extradited. Meli's lawyers had also argued that the alleged crimes had been committed in Malta and there- fore he should be tried in the Maltese jurisdiction. But this ground of appeal was also refuted as "pointless" by the court, which pointed out that the fact that Malta might have jurisdiction did not mean that the other country could not also have jurisdiction while being in a better position to prosecute the case. The judge rejected the appeal and confirmed the sentence in its entirety, ordering him to be returned to the United States, as well as ordering that a copy of the judgement be delivered to the Minister for Justice. Lawyers Marion Camilleri and Jacob Magri were in court assist- ing the defendant as the judge- ment was read out. Meli was also being assisted by lawyers Franco Debono and Arthur Azzopardi. Prosecutor Sean Xerri de Caro represented the office of the At- torney General. The US says Meli offered malware products and services, amongst them the Pegasus remote access trojan (RAT), for sale to cybercriminals since at least 2012 CABINET has approved a decision that would grant the Marsaskala Aquatic Sports Club the title of national pool, Prime Minister Robert Abela has an- nounced. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Abe- la said that around this time two years ago, he had pledged to reclaim the Żon- qor Point area originally granted to the American University of Malta (AUM). "That was only the first step," he wrote, announcing Cabinet's decision to start the parliamentary process that would lead to the transfer of the nation- al pool title. In back-to-back deals in 2022, gov- ernment took back the land at Żonqor Point in Marsaskala, originally given to Sadeen for the construction of a univer- sity campus, and swapped it with a tract of land within the confines of Smart City in Kalkara. The Żonqor area includes a tract of land outside the development zone. The proposed AUM project had sparked protests when it was first an- nounced, prompting repeated calls over the years for the government to drop the deal after AUM failed to attract enough students to make a large campus viable. Such was the scale of opposition against the project, that a large environ- mental protest by Front Ħarsien ODZ drew thousands to Valletta in 2015. Marsaskala Aquatic Sports Club to be given national pool title, PM says on Facebook Robert Abela announced Cabinet's decision to start the parliamentary process that would lead to the transfer of the national pool title