Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/347048
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 16 JULY 2014 7 DANIEL MIZZI DARRYL Luke Borg – the man who last year was wrongfully arrested for an alleged part in a hold up-up in Birkirkara – has filed a constitu- tional appeal, arguing it was "unjust and incorrect" for the First Court to dismiss his plea for compensation for a claimed breach of fundamen- tal human rights. The case goes back to August 8, 2013, when Borg, from Birkirkara, was wrongly prosecuted for a hold- up in Birkirkara the night before. A day later another man, Roderick Grech, admitted to the crime and was handed a suspended sentence. But despite Grech's guilty plea, Borg was remanded in custody for another day. This, lawyers David Camilleri and Joseph Gatt held, breached Borg's right against arbi- trary arrest. Subsequently, they filed for com- pensation, complaining that their client should not have been ar- raigned in the first place or been de- nied bail, and that the police should have released Borg a day earlier, when the police learned that Roder- ick Grech had admitted to commit- ting the hold-up. Last month, Borg's application for compensation was dismissed by the Constitutional Court, which ruled that Borg's right against arbitrary arrest was not breached as the po- lice "had not acted negligently, and the arrest was justified on grounds of reasonable suspicion." In an appeal filed against the At- torney General, the Director of Criminal Courts and Tribunals, and the Police commissioner, Borg's lawyers argued that the reasonable suspicion of the prosecution was not justified because CCTV foot- age clearly showed that it was not he. Borg's lawyer held that "for any reasonable suspicion to be justi- fied, there must be clear and con- crete proof " and not circumstan- tial evidence. "However, there could not have been any reasonable suspicion in Borg, because at the time he was at home. Moreover, the person who later admitted in court to have car- ried out the hold-up is considerably shorter and has a different stature than Darryl Luke Borg," Borg's law- yers told the court. Moreover, the plaintiff 's lawyers held that the CCTV footage and stills do not correspond with Darryl Luke Borg's Facebook profile. The police had used Borg's Facebook photo to confirm a resemblance be- tween himself and the CCTV. In its judgment last month, Mr Justice Tonio Mallia had argued that Borg's arrest was based on reasonable suspicion due to a tip- off and Borg's criminal history, an argument disputed by Borg's law- yers who have insisted that one's criminal history should not be used to base an arrest but to further any suspicions. Borg also argued that the police should have withdrawn criminal proceedings as soon as another man admitted to committing the crime. Instead, Borg remained under po- lice custody for another day. "Darryl Luke Borg spent an extra day in prison after it was estab- lished that the police knew that a third party had admitted to the of- fence," the plaintiff 's lawyers held. News Wrongly arrested man files constitutional appeal Darryl Luke Borg files a case for compensation, claiming that his arrest in August 2013 was unjustified and breached his fundamental human rights Chinese 'boss' threatened women into prostitution A court heard that a Chinese man living in Malta and currently fac- ing charges of human trafficking, threatened at least three women with sending them back to China empty handed unless they per- formed 'hand relief ' on their cli- ents to earn extra cash. Restaurateur De Quan Feng, born in China and residing at St Paul's Bay, pleaded not guilty to charges of human trafficking and living off the earnings of prostitution. Prosecuting inspectors Sylvana Briffa and Joseph Busuttil told Magistrate Doreen Clarke that af- ter weeks of observation officers moved in on three massage par- lours in Sta Venera, Paola and Ra- bat. Inside, the police found three Chinese women who were alleged- ly forced to work in prostitution. The 52-year-old Chinese man, who in the past used to do trans- lation services from Chinese to English for the courts, owns a Chi- nese restaurant in Mellieha. He has been living in Malta for a long time and is also in possession of a Maltese passport. De Quan Feng was charged with human traffick- ing, living off the earnings of pros- titution, running a brothel and op- erating trading premises without a licence. The three parlours are Golden Fingers in Sta Venera, Chi- nese Massage in Paola and Mas- sage Parlour in Rabat. Taking the witness stand, one of the victims told the court she ar- rived in Malta in April last year to work as a masseuse in a parlour owned by the accused. An agent in China took care of all communica- tion with the person who was to be her 'boss'. Using software called 'QQ', the woman communicated with a Chinese person in Malta asking about her work permit. The man in Malta instructed her to pay her agent 70,000 Yen, equivalent to €8,333 to apply for her travelling visa and work permit. Pointing at De Quan Feng sitting in the dock and identifying him as her boss, she said "he promised I would be doing normal massage and earn over 10,000 yen, equiva- lent to €1,190 monthly. My work- ing hours were from 9am to 8pm from Monday to Sunday. I was told I could take a break but if I do I would earn less money". She travelled to Malta with an- other woman. The 'boss' picked them up from the airport and handed her the work permit and took her to an apartment in Sta Venera. The fol- lowing morning she started work- ing doing massages in a parlour. "We charged €20 for half an hour and €30 for an hour. The boss col- lected the money and paid me €6 for every half hour massage and €10 for an hour's massage. I never earned the salary I was promised in China. When I started the mon- ey was not good, but then it got better," she said. The witness explained that in the beginning she did not know what her customers expected. "I did not know how to satisfy my clients", the witness said. Asked by the prosecution about her qualifi- cations, the witness explained she was a qualified beautician. Repeatedly asked by the prosecu- tion to give details about her work, the witness became emotional and upset. Magistrate Clarke sus- pended the testimony saying it was clear to the court that the witness was uncomfortable giving evidence in open court. The court ordered that the testimony of the witness and that of the other two victims would be heard through video conference. Subsequently, the court contin- ued hearing how through subtle threats, De Quan Feng pushed the three women into prostitution. "He would tell us that we should perform hand relief on our clients to earn more money. He insisted that unless our income increases he has no need of us being here and would send us back to China. We incurred huge debts to be able to pay for the move to Malta and needed to be employed. We were left with no option but to give ex- tra services, or face the wrath of our creditors if we went back to China empty handed," the witness said. Her evidence was corroborated by the other two women, also vic- tims of the same abuse. One of the women also recounted how she count not afford to rent an apart- ment and was forced to live in a make shift area above the parlour. "We had what looked like a loft and I had a bed there. I could bare- ly stand up straight it was so close to the ceiling," she said. The case continues on Monday, when a number of men, claimed to have been clients at the three parlours, are expected to take the witness stand. Lawyer Jason Grima appeared parte civile for the three victims, while Dr Joe Sammut represented the accused. Attorney General to appeal bail on Imniehru murders CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Speaking to MaltaToday, lawyer Joe Giglio, the defence lawyer of Jason Galea, has also filed an appeal of the de- cision, requesting that the court reduces the "exorbitant" amount of money that the accused is re- quested to pay for a personal guar- antee. "My client is currently still being remanded in custody because he is not in a position to pay that kind of money for a personal guarantee. An appeal has therefore been filed to reduce the personal guarantee." Moreover, Giglio disputed the AG's claims, arguing that irrespec- tive of the nature of the offence, any fears of relapsing or of any threat to society are unfounded because the accused has not been found guilty yet. "The general presumption is that any accused is innocent until proven guilty, and consequently, due to the fact that my client is yet to be found guilty, we have ob- jected the AG's decision to appeal the sentence. The nature of the offence is not enough to withhold bail, witnesses have been heard, and the accused has ties with Mal- ta that alleviate any fears of him absconding." The decision whether to uphold the AG's appeal will be taken by the court today behind closed doors. Jason Galea is accused of shoot- ing Mario Camilleri Snr twice in the head before driving off to a field in Tal-Qajjenza, limits of Birzeb- bugia. The corpse of Camilleri was then lowered into a shallow grave that had already been dug out in the field. Moments later, Camill- eri's 21-year-old son, Mario Jnr. arrived at the field when he was dropped off by another man. At this point, George Galea took the 21-year-old by the throat while Jason Galea started hitting with a loose tile that lay nearby. Jason Galea then asked George Galea to shoot Camilleri but he refused, leading Jason Galea to repeatedly stab Mario Camilleri with a knife, then finishing him off with two shots. The lifeless body was then dropped next to his father's. Lawyer Giannella de Marco is representing Jason Galea, while lawyer Joe Giglio is appearing for George Galea. Mario Camilleri Snr (right), and his son Mario