Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/782193
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 5 FEBRUARY 2017 8 News MATTHEW AGIUS MALTA'S Constitutional court has dismissed an attempt to chal- lenge the fact that bail was not a le- gal right for persons who are chal- lenging extradition, under Maltese law. The extradition of Angelo Frank Paul Spiteri, which has been re- quested by the Lithuanian author- ities where he is wanted in con- nection with an investigation into fraud, will likely go ahead after a Constitutional court found no breach of his rights because he was not entitled to bail whilst fighting extradition. Spiteri's extradition had been suspended pending the outcome of his Constitutional challenge to the order. Spiteri is the director of a Lith- uanian-registered travel company Atostogu Sandelis. He is wanted by the Lithuanian authorities to answer to fraud allegations. He is the subject of a European Arrest Warrant in Lithuania, after he was accused along with two oth- ers, of convincing victims to pay the company for fictitious accom- modation agreements with certain hotels. Spiteri has been fighting his ex- tradition, and his possible com- mittal to the fearsome Lithuanian prison system, ever since he was arrested in Malta in December 2015 on the strength of the EAW issued by the Lithuanian Prosecu- tor General. Upon his arraignment, Spiteri had been granted bail, but this bail was revoked as soon as the Court of Magistrates upheld the extra- dition request in January. This is because persons who have been adjudged as being extraditable by the Court of Magistrates, are pre- cluded from being granted bail un- der the Extradition Act. In January 2016, the Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed his request for bail, also citing the Extradition Act, and the follow- ing month confirmed the lower court's order for his extradition. Last May, his lawyers Jason Azzopardi, Kris Busietta and Eve Borg Costanzi filed Constitutional proceedings, arguing that his in- definite arrest was a breach of his fundamental human rights and demanding both his immediate release on bail and compensation. His extradition was suspended pending the outcome of those pro- ceedings. The defence had asked that court to declare parts of the Extradi- tion Act as violating the European Convention on Human Rights, declare Spiteri's arrest illegal and grant him bail and compensation. In June 2016, the First Hall of the Civil Court in its Constitutional Jurisdiction had released him on bail as an interim measure, which was revoked last month. Tackling the complex legal issues raised by the defence in a compre- hensive 62-page judgement, Mad- ame Justice Lorraine Schembri Orland systematically dismissed Spiteri's arguments and concluded that there was no obstacle to the man being handed over to the Lithuanian authorities. His arrest was justified as it had been performed according to law, the court held. The judge dismissed as unfounded his com- plaint over the time taken for his case to reach the stage it was in, observing that the case before the court of Magistrates had been heard expeditiously and that there was no suggestion of bad faith on the part of the State. "In the case at hand, it cannot be said that the accused has an arguable complaint insofar as he is insisting that his right to bail is automatic and not in line with the framework of the European Con- vention of Human Rights," said the court, but held that he did have a right to challenge his detention before courts of a Constitutional jurisdiction, which meant that his right to liberty and security was protected. The court said that from a read- ing of jurisprudence and doctrinal commentaries on the subject, it had not emerged that there was a right to bail in deportation or ex- tradition cases. The court dismissed the case, de- claring the claims as unfounded in fact and at law and ordering Spiteri to suffer the costs of the case. No bail for Maltese man trying to stop extradition Madame Justice Lorraine Schembri Orland Spiteri has been fighting his extradition, and his possible committal to the fearsome Lithuanian prison system