Defence lawyer lauds justice system as Sudanese is acquitted of trafficking charges

Adds defence lawyer's comments

Sudanese national Adam Hasan Mohammed Khemis, 61 of Darfur, walked out of court in Valletta a free man this afternoon, after jurors acquitted him of attempting to smuggle a number of migrants out of Malta to Sicily in 2009.

With seven votes to two, jurors returned a 'not guilty' verdict after five and a half hours of deliberation.

Judge Michael Mallia who presided over the trial, ordered that Khemis be immediately released from detention, and was escorted to the Police headquarters in Floriana to 'regularise' his position, given that he has technically become an irregular migrant in the country after having lost his opportunity of leaving for France under a French government-sponsored resettlement programme.

Khemis has been held at Corradino Prisons under preventative custody since December 2009.

He was arrested shortly before he went to the airport to leave for France and start a brand new life.

Speaking to MaltaToday soon after the verdict was returned, defence counsel Malcolm Mifsud who appeared for Khemis as legal aid, expressed his satisfaction that justice has been served.

"I am happy for the verdict because this trial has proven it demolishes the perception on discrimination against migrants," Mifsud said, adding that migrants too can see for themselves that the system works also for them.

Asked on what is to happen of Khemis now that he had lost his chance to be resettled in France, Malcolm Mifsud expressed his hope that authorities would take the Sudanese man's ordeal into consideration.

"I augur that the authorities would give first preference to Khemis when the next group of migrants are to be selected for any resettlement programme," Mifsud said.

Khemis, was pleading not guilty to allegations that he helped a group of immigrants attempt to escape to Italy three years ago, faced a maximum of 12 years in jail if found guilty.

Defence

Before jurors retired to deliberate, defence lawyer Malcolm Mifsud had claimed that his client was wrongly charged by the prosecution, and should be acquitted of all the charges.

He also revealed that Khemis was charged in court without even being interrogated and without a statement.

Mifsud strongly criticised the police for what he described as "serious inefficiencies" committed by the police during their investigations into the case, while diplomatically suggesting a racist approach to his client by investigators.

"Throughout all these years I have been working as a lawyer, I have never come across a situation where Police charge a man with a crime without even taking a statement from him," Mifsud said, adding that his client had fled war-torn Darfur in Sudan "where police are what they are, and then he comes to Malta to find himself charged without even having a statement taken."

Indictment

Khemis - who resided at the Hal Far Open Centre - was accused of approaching a group of men and told them he would be able to make the necessary arrangements to take them to Italy where they could start a new life.

Many of the men had arrived in Malta on migrant boats and were living in open centres. They all claimed to have paid €850 each to the accused.

On the day of the planned escape Khemis made arrangements for the men to be picked up by a minivan at night, as they were meant to be taken to a boat that would have taken them to Italy.

However, following a long drive around the island, the men were taken back to the Hal Far open centre and were told that there were problems and the trip could not take place.

Credibilty

Khemis was arrested shortly before he was to leave Malta for France on a resettlement programme organised by the French government.

According to lawyer Malcolm Mifsud, the fact that his client was about to leave for France, was the motive behind the allegations raised by other migrants who felt jealous of him.

He claimed that the witnesses were different in nationalisty, and didn't speak the same language, making it quite hard for them to even agree on such a trip.

Their claim of having paid €850 each to Khemis is also another point the jurors must consider.

While it is one man's word against another, the fact that his client might have taken €850 from each of the witnesses is tantamount to fraud, and not human trafficking. "But the fraud charge is not here, and my client must be acquitted," Mifsud said, adding that it was the prosecution's mistake to wrongly charge Khemis.

Mifsud also said that the prosecution failed to produce a shred of evidence which could prove Khemis was conspiring to traffic fellow migrants to Italy.

Lawyers Aaron Bugeja and Giannella Busuttil, from the Attorney General's Prosecution Unit prosecuted.