Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/771708
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 11 JANUARY 2017 5 News Man accused of smuggling migrants claims he was a passenger MATTHEW AGIUS A man accused of people smuggling testified in his own trial yesterday, telling jurors that he had been mis- taken by the other passengers for one of the organisers of the smug- gling operation. 58-year-old Hadish Abayu is on trial, accused of people smuggling and complicity in the trafficking of persons. Prosecutors believe him to be one of the masterminds behind the 2005 voyage from Libya to Italy, but which ended in Malta. Abayu took the witness stand in the afternoon, the prosecution hav- ing earlier informed the court that it had presented all its evidence. Abayu testified in English and began by expressing gratitude to the Maltese authorities for allowing him to undergo due process. The accused told the jurors that he had spent 10 years in Sudan be- fore travelling to Libya in 2003. He had tried to come to Malta to join his wife and four children, who had already been on the island since 2005. "Two times I paid to come to Eu- rope. They (the organisers) take our money and run away," he told jurors. "We were 187 people wait- ing on the coast (of Libya). We had to pay money before being allowed to board the boat. I was a passenger like the others. The Libyans split us in three groups to save time, to pay the money." The accused said that he had been chosen to collect the money by Os- man, one of the Libyan organisers, because he is an Arabic speaker and was older than the other passen- gers. He had collected the money for one group of 55 people. "I collected $46,000 dollars," including his own $1,000 payment, before giving the payment to Osman in front of eve- ryone. Abayu said the group had been discovered on the coast by a police patrol and six people were arrested. Abayu had run away with the oth- ers. "We were supposed to go to Italy but when we were close to Malta the captain said there was a prob- lem with the motor and he decided to change course. When we arrived in Malta some people started ask- ing questions about the six who had been arrested in Libya and the mon- ey they had paid. They reported me to the police because they had seen me collect the money from them. I told the police then what I am tell- ing you now. When I collected the money for Osman in Libya, I did not realise that I was creating problems for myself." He denied being a people smug- gler, arguing that he would have stayed in Libya, not risked his life at sea, had he made the kind of money that the traffickers made. Some of the passengers who had reported Abayu to the police had later real- ised their mistake and had apolo- gised to him, he said. Earlier, the jury was read a num- ber of statements made to police by the people trafficked, in which they claim to have paid at least $1,000 for a place on a boat sailing from Libya to Italy. The prosecution read out a state- ment by Mabrahatom Brahi Tahle, one of the 181 migrants who en- tered Malta aboard an overloaded boat in 2005, as Abayu's trial by jury entered its second day. Ms Justice Edwina Grima had heard how Brahi Tahle's ultimate intention was to go to Italy. "I met the accused for the first time when I was in Libya. He told me to pay him before I left... I paid Hadish in cash." The Eritrean had said that Abayu was not working alone, but had or- ganised the voyage together with other Libyans. The man told police that he had paid $700 to the accused and $300 to his associates. The trial by jury of 58-year-old Abayu from Ethiopia began yester- day, 11 years after he was charged with trafficking 181 persons into Malta by sea on 25 September, 2005. Abayu had been charged on June 9, 2006 but had absconded whilst out on bail, being arrested in Swit- zerland and extradited to Malta last May. Lawyer Vincienne Vella is lead- ing the prosecution. Abayu is being represented by lawyer Simon Mi- callef Stafrace. Hadish Abayu was charged 11 years ago with trafficking 181 persons into Malta by sea on 25 September, 2005 (File photo) Man jailed for 40 months over aggravated possession of ecstasy and cannabis MATTHEW AGIUS A court has jailed a drug trafficker for 40 months after he admitted to charges of ag- gravated possession of ecstasy and cannabis resin. Ayman Abul-Ez Mohammed Hanafwa also admitted to charges of simple possession of cannabis plants and trafficking. Before Magistrate Aaron Bugeja, Hanafwa had claimed to be a drug addict who needed help and that he should be spared jail in view of his admission. But the court, noting that the man had al- ready been placed under a suspended sen- tence, said he had thrown away an opportu- nity to reform. The magistrate pointed out that the court had already given Hanafwa the chance to change his ways by giving him a suspended sentence and just over six months later, he had been caught committing other offences. The accused could not now expect to be given another chance, having been warned that, if he committed another crime while serving a suspended sentence, he would be jailed for both offences. "When he chose to commit the drug-related crime, months after being handed a suspended sentence, he knew that if he was caught, he would be punished for both." The recent amendments to drug laws did not mean that the accused could expect to escape the consequences of his actions. The amendments "did not mean that now every- thing goes, without consequences," the mag- istrate said, also pointing out that the accused now lived in Malta and had to obey the laws of the country "not follow his whims, that is lead a life of drug abuse, thievery and criminality." In addition to rendering his two-year sus- pended sentence active, the court sentenced Hanafwa to imprisonment for 16 months, bringing the total to 40 months. He was also fined €2,000. Inspector Jonathan Cassar prosecuted. PN MEPs strike back at Socialists 'horrified' by Salvu Mallia TIM DIACONO NATIONALIST MEPs have accused the head of the Party of European Socialists of "los- ing the plot" after he had taken PN candidate Salvu Mallia to task for comments describing Adolf Hitler as "a progressive leader". No stranger to controversy, Mallia on Sun- day used the notorious Fuhrer as an example as to why people shouldn't trust Prime Minis- ter Joseph Muscat, despite a raft of progressive policies introduced by his Labour government. "Muscat is a tasteless crook who exploited all the weaknesses of society," he said in an inter- view with the Sunday Times. "For me, this is a battle against evil. No dictator is ever up front about their intentions to screw you. Dictators pretend to be nice. If you look back at Adolf Hitler, he was very progressive. The first cam- paign against smoking was carried out by the Nazis. Society was affluent. That was Adolf Hitler. Was he good? I don't think so." The Party of the European Socialists, the po- litical family of the Labour Party in the Euro- pean Parliament, was quick to express horror at the choice of words. PES present and former Bulgarian prime minister Sergei Stanishev called on Opposition leader Simon Busuttil to "disown his candidate's despicable comments and to set out the measures he intends to take to correct the situation". "If Mr Busuttil does not have the courage even to stand up to one of his own candidates who has so clearly crossed the line, then he certainly does not have the necessary attrib- utes to lead Malta's official opposition, never mind to stand for election to government," he said. PN MEP Casa accused Joseph Muscat of dragging Stanishev into a "non-issue", warning that such tactics will not silence the PN from speaking about the Panama Papers scandal. "Sergei Stanishev has lost the plot. Who is he trying to fool by linking the PN to Adolf Hit- ler? I ask Mr Stanishev – why are you stooping so low?" Casa said in a statement on behalf of the PN delegation in the European Parliament. "And to the Maltese Prime Minister [Joseph Muscat] I ask: Are you so out of your depth to even drag Mr Stanishev into such a non-issue? Do you think you will silence us in the face of such blatant corruption? You will not. That much is clear. Sack your chief of staff and the only EU minister embroiled in the Panama Pa- pers scandal."