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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 21 FEBRUARY 2016 26 Letters News • 19 February 2006 WA provision in the drug laws contraven- ing the right to fair trial, has not yet been amended ten months after the Consti- tutional Court referred its judgement to parliament. On Friday, Briton Susan Jayne Moly- neaux was discharged from criminal proceedings against her after she was accused of conspiring to traffic more than three kilograms of cocaine and over 7,000 ecstasy pills, back in 2003. She was accompanying Gregory Rob- ert Eyre, who was carrying the drugs consignment, from Spain when the cou- ple was apprehended at Malta Interna- tional Airport. The Attorney General withdrew all accusations after the Constitutional Court declared Molyneaux had not been granted the right to fair trial. The prosecution had originally called for life imprisonment and a maximum fine of Lm50,000 if Molyneaux was found guilty. Malta's drug laws do not allow those accused of drug trafficking to defend themselves by proving they believed they were in possession of something other than drugs. According to the Constitutional Court, this provision deprived Moly- neaux of the benefit of the presumption of innocence, by being denied a defence which could lead to her acquittal. Molyneaux was "convinced that some- thing, other than drugs, were being im- ported illegally, such as money in order to evade tax on currency", according to prosecution's bill of indictment. This indictment led her defence, led by Emanuel Mallia and Giannella Caruana Curran, to raise the plea that holding Molyneaux criminally liable for drug trafficking would run counter to "the basic principles of justice and the provi- sions" of the Constitution and the Euro- pean Convention on Human Rights. Previous courts argued that accused traffickers would find it easy to escape punishment if they deliberately refrain from enquiring about the true nature of what they were carrying, even if they suspected this was something illegal. The Constitutional Court agreed that a person was guilty even if they were merely aware that what they had brought into the islands was something illegal. However the Court also said this not only deprived the accused of any de- fence to the charge of possession, but more importantly, deprived the court to "tailor the punishment according to the moral blameworthiness of the accused." The Court said that if an accused believed they were importing a por- nographic film, but were unaware the cassette was packed with heroin, they would still possibly face life imprison- ment when the importation of a por- nographic cassette carried a maximum two-year imprisonment. The Court said the law as it stands still treated the accused as if they "he 'knowingly' imported into Malta the drug found in the cassette… This clear- ly places the accused at a great, indeed disproportionate, disadvantage vis-à-vis the prosecution, a disadvantage that he has absolutely no chance of redressing whatever the evidence…" In its ruling, the Constitutional Court declared that the fundamental right to a fair trial as guaranteed in the Constitu- tion and the European Convention had been contravened, ordering its judge- ment to be sent to the House of Repre- sentatives. "Although the legislative has every right to pass the laws it thinks fit… in a state governed by the Rule of Law it is ultimately always the task of this Court to review such laws and to determine finally whether or not Parliament's ap- proach is in conformity with the Consti- tution and the European Convention." Drug laws contravene right to fair trial Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. Mutiny at the Royal Malta Yacht Club As European boat owners are flock- ing into Malta to berth their sport- ing and cruising yachts, unfortu- nately some sporting traditional institutions are oblivious of the country's thrust and lag: one case in point is the Royal Malta Yacht Club. In 2008, the Commodore of the Royal Malta Yacht Club, Georges Bonello Dupuis, finalised the deal with the government to move the club out of Fort Manoel into the old Customs house in Ta' Xbiex, a bold move which proved to be a turning point in the club's history. He undertook a fund-raising cam- paign to renovate the run-down building into a modern club with reasonable facilities, including a marina, gym, offices and confer- ence rooms. The club is what it is today thanks to Mr Bonello Dupuis's leadership, with a bullish, controversial, unwanted behaviour. In spite of the good things, Mr Bonello Dupuis's long tenure of over nine years as Commodore was much stained by a management style in the running of a com- mittee with hermetic and closed access to club members on internal resolutions by law statutes and interpretations, and finances which have worsened during the past four years. Members complain about the lack of routine information on the club's running, the ignoring of statutes in various items, which appear to be interpreted only for the executive committee's interest rather than for members' needs and requests. The committee, run by eight members and an honorary presi- dent, have an average member age of approximately 65 years, with the eldest at 82, and the permanence of the tenures of the present members unusually long at an average of 15 years, with some sitting in for more than 20. The club's identity appears blurred and confusing, given its proud Maltese governance, while claiming allegiance to the British Crown ostensibly under the Blue ensign, with out-dated laws that do not reflect the free independent country Malta is proud to be. These long tenures have been the cause of strong criticism of crony- ism within the committee, which has become increasingly arrogant towards its members and is man- aging the club in a "closed ivory tower" – the members' only chance to voice their complaints and proposals is in the AGM, largely attended by a very small group of followers. The absence of members at the AGM is a consequence of the blocked balloting voting system the club has to elect members. It was designed to keep a group of committee members in power by having the requirement to neces- sarily vote for a minimum of five posting nominees, which year after year have been the longstanding committee members. There is no possibility for an open free bal- loting system, given the existing system within the statutes. The troubled finances, at break- even with a minor surplus, hardly allows for proper maintenance. Grand projects require constant sponsorship and the opening of the gates to any new member who can foot the cheap membership fee of €120 annually. New members' applications are not posted on the club's noticeboard for mem- ber comments as required by the statutes, eroding the elite status the club enjoyed in the past. After four years on the sidelines, Bonello Dupuis posted his nomina- tion for committee at the AGM in February 2014. Having lost at the ballot, he staged a slanderous tan- trum in the club's bar against the existing Commodore, the secretary of the club and two employees, accusing them of rigging the votes and calling the executive commit- tee "corrupt". Strange, given he ran the Committee for a very unusually long tenure. Bonello Dupuis insulted other members present, and had to be held back by another executive committee member. The multiple written and verbal complaints to the executive committee on Bonello Dupuis's tantrum and other unwanted be- haviour went unacknowledged and ignored for 11 months. After six months since this inci- dent, Bonello Dupuis was invited back to the committee by the Com- modore, generating a strong reac- tion from members who applied pressure to have their complaints on Bonello Dupuis's behaviour acknowledged and apply the disciplinary statute's clauses – paid advertisements in the press were used to capture the club's attention, also ignored to date. It is sad that a club that has posi- tively impacted the sport's growth and contributed to a thriving nauti- cal suppliers industry, is declining in sailing activities, has members mostly holding dual membership with other clubs, and could now face extinction rather than evolu- tion if it is unable to adapt towards a more modern, open and ethically responsive governance that attracts the young sports market participat- ing in more and more international sailing events. The upcoming AGM on 22 Feb- ruary poses a unique opportunity for change, with an unprecedented number of new young nomina- tions put forth. If clean, honest vote counting takes place – and most importantly the full voting members now support the five new nominees to the executive commit- tee – maybe the club's old guard can be replaced with new blood. The Royal Malta Yacht Club has all the elements to become the most recognised and respected sail club in the Mediterranean. Our country could benefit not only as the cultural centre of Europe in 2018, but also as the centre of nauti- cal sports in the Mediterranean and Europe. It will be up to its full members to push for a long overdue governance change with their active vote or to keep a hushed up business as usual in the presently stagnant decadent club. Jose Carlos Noriega Munro Ta' Xbiex