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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 18 FEBRUARY 2015 5 News Chinese directors placed under bill of indictment Court finds enough evidence for case against Leisure Clothing directors to continue MATTHEW AGIUS HAN Bin and Jia Liu, the managing and marketing directors of Leisure Clothing, a Bulebel textile factory owned by the Chinese government, are to be indicted on charges of human trafficking and ex- ploiting labour, after a magistrate's court decreed that there is sufficient evidence to merit a bill of indictment. Magistrate Carol Peralta has delivered the long-awaited decree of prima facie evidence on all charges, which, aside from human trafficking, include misap- propriating employees' wages, failing to pay wages, overtime and allowances and failing to comply with employment con- ditions. The court had heard a string of Vi- etnamese witnesses testify as to how they would receive €200-€300 monthly for working 12 hours a day, seven days a week, and having had their passports confiscated by the company on their ar- rival. The Attorney General may now file a bill of indictment, which is expected to result in a trial by jury against the pair. It is understood that the court was ini- tially unconvinced regarding the charge of human trafficking, but almost three months to the day from the initial ar- raignment, it has finally decreed that there are prima facie grounds on all the charges. Lawyer Lanfranco from the office of the AG, Inspector Joseph Busuttil and Inspector Sylvana Briffa are prosecut- ing. Lawyers Pio Valletta and Edward Gatt are defending the accused. Man contests AG's request for case's retrial Owner of illegal Marsa animal home conditionally discharged Suspended sentence for driver who caused fatal crash in 2013 MAT THEW AGIUS A man who is awaiting a trial by jury for importing restricted psy- chotropic medicinals without the necessary authorisation has filed two Constitutional applications against the Attorney General, af- ter the latter filed an application for a retrial following a previous Constitutional judgment in the man's favour. Alfred Camilleri had successful- ly challenged in both the Magis- trates and Criminal Court crimi- nal proceedings against him on the ground that he did not have a law yer present when he was ques- tioned by police. In fact, a 2012 judgment by the First Hall of the civil court in its Constitutional jurisdiction had held that Camilleri 's fundamental human rights had been breached and declared inadmissible evi- dence garnered from the interro- gation. The Attorney General had ap- pealed the decision of the first hall in November that year, and once again the Constitutional Court it its Superior Jurisdiction, composed of Justices Giannino Caruana Demajo, Noel Cuschieri and Joseph Zammit McKeon had confirmed the judgment by the court of first instance and reject- ed the appeal. However, in July 2013, the At- torney General had filed an appli- cation for a retrial and "strangely and most unexpectedly" this was accepted by the court in Janu- ary last year – a decision which Camilleri argues, goes contrary to half a century of case law which had established that there was no right of retrial from a judgment of the Constitutional court. The application points out that the Constitutional court that ac- cepted the request to retry the case was composed of the same three judges who had rejected the AG's first appeal in November 2012, which it says is a violation of one of the most basic principles of law – that no one should be a judge in his own case, for reasons of impartialit y. In the applications filed yes- terday, Camilleri lists nine other cases where the Constitutional court had interpreted this princi- ple in diametrically opposed ways, ending with a judgment delivered only two weeks ago in which the Constitutional court had held that the denial of legal counsel during interrogation constituted a breach of human rights. The applicant claims the "abso- lute lack of consistency" in these rulings violates his right to legal certaint y and comments that this court is in dut y bound to remove uncertaint y – and most definitely not create it. He also argued that the court lacked the authorit y to retry a constitutional case, describing the situation as a legal absurdit y, as the Constitutional court (com- posed differently) had refused a request for a retrial in a similar case on the basis that the proce- dure did not exist. The application requests that the court annul the last two judg- ments and reinstate the first deci- sion which disallowed his state- ment from being used in the jury. Another urgent application – to suspend the jury scheduled for 9 March until the first application is decided – was also filed. Veronique Dalli and Joseph Gatt, signed the applications. Somali gets suspended sentence for attacking a policeman A 25-year-old Somali man was sentenced to six months in jail, suspended for 18 months, after a court found him guilt y of a drunken assault on a police of- ficer who asked him to lower his voice. Magistrate Doreen Clarke heard that Hussen Abdi Rah- man Hassan was seen to be in- toxicated and belligerent in the Marsa area on 13 December last year, when a policeman asked him to lower his voice. Rather than obey, the accused instead verbally abused the po- lice officer. Hassan also refused to throw away the carton of wine from which he was drink- ing. The accused resisted efforts to lead him to the police station, at one point trying to punch the officer. A scuff le ensued as the officer tried to handcuff the So- mali and the policeman ended with a hurt shoulder. The accused chose to testif y and admitted to being drunk on the day. He did not remember much else about the incident. In sentencing him, the mag- istrate took into considera- tion the nature of the offences as well as the clean criminal record of the accused, hand- ing down a six-month sentence suspended for 18 months and fined him €4,000, which would be converted into 115 days im- prisonment if not paid within six months. MATTHEW AGIUS A man who owns 25 cats and 12 dogs has been handed a two-year conditional discharge after a court found him guilty of charges of breaching public order and sani- tary laws for the second time in as many months. Agostino Borg, 54 appeared be- fore Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras charged with causing a noisy disturbance during the night, breaching public order, de- positing animal excreta in a public place and harassing neighbours. Last month Borg was fined €100 by the same magistrate and or- dered to find alternative accom- modation for his animals within three months. This deadline re- mains in effect, with Borg today being ordered to re-home his ani- mals within two months. Twelve neighbours testified about the incessant barking of Borg's many dogs and the foul smells emanating from his residence, an injustice which, they said, they had been suffering for many years. The court heard that from around 4:30am the accused could be heard shouting and swearing at the animals' behaviour, which would sometimes carry on for the rest of the day. "It was impossible to open a window because of the smell," one of the neighbours had said. The magistrate was told that the accused would regularly shout provocative comments while ad- dressing his dogs. "Shout all you like," one witness said he would tell his barking dogs, "because we can do what we like." Borg is appealing both sentenc- es. Lawyer Marion Camilleri defend- ed Borg, while lawyer Joe Mifsud appeared in parte civile on behalf of the neighbours. MATTHEW AGIUS A man who admitted to causing a crash which led to the death of an- other driver in 2013 has been hand- ed a suspended sentence by a mag- istrate, after the dead man's family told the court they would be satis- fied with a suspended sentence if the accused beat his drug addiction. Keith Cassar, 24, admitted to the involuntary homicide of 52-year-old Marsa resident Joseph Portelli in March 2013. The court heard that the accused had a drug problem at the time. Portelli had been driving his Toyota Vitz in the direction of Fleur-de-Lys, along St Joseph High Road, when he swerved to avoid an oncoming BMW, driven by Cassar, who was overtaking two cars, and crashed into the aqueduct. Portelli succumbed to his injuries two days later. Magistrate Doreen Clarke took in- to account a submission by the vic- tim's family in which they observed that the accused was rehabilitat- ing himself and said they would be content with a suspended sentence on condition that he continued to receive treatment for his drug ad- diction. The magistrate handed Cassar a two-year jail sentence, suspended for four, together with a four-year probation order, and suspended his driving licence for a year. YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt