[WATCH] Father wrongly accused of daughter’s rape, released

Man wrongly accused of daughter's rape released from prison • Video: Ray Attard

Mr Justice Joseph R. Micallef has ordered the release from detention of a man accused of defiling his own daughter, ruling that there was enough reason for the court to order the release as an interim measure.

The man filed a Constitutional Application after his daughter told the court that she had lied about what her father did to her. The girl’s mother was subsequently charged with perjury, as the instigator behind her daughter’s allegations.

The man had been convicted of raping his own daughter and handed a two-year jail term. However during his appeal, the girl withdrew her allegations. Despite claims that she had been sexually abused by the father for five years, medical exams carried out on the girl found that she was still a virgin.

Glad that the Constitutional Court proved itself, expeditiously, to be a fundamental player in our democracy and rule of law.

— Owen Bonnici (@OwenBonnici) June 2, 2014

The man’s lawyer, Tonio Azzopardi, proceeded to file another request to the Court of Appeals requesting that his client is released from prison as soon as possible, and pleaded to the President of the Republic to annul the sentence.

The Constitutional Court ruled that the application filed by the man’s lawyer had highlighted good and serious reasons for the ordering of his release from prison, as an interim measure. The release will remain in force until the court is made aware of any changes in circumstances.

However, the Court also ordered the man not to leave the Maltese islands without the court’s permission, not to approach or communicate with his wife and daughter, and to attend all upcoming court sittings.

In his first reaction to the ruling of the Constitutional Court, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said the Constitutional Court has proved itself as an important player in a democratic country.

“The judiciary has worked expeditiously. At the moment of truth, the judiciary has proved that it can administer justice in the most efficient manner,” the minister said.

Bonnici reiterated that the Constitutional Court had the power to order the release of a man from prison while immediate steps were taken against the two persons believed to have committed perjury.

In May 2013, the Court of Appeals led by Mr Justice Lawrence Quintano confirmed a two-year prison term. The daughter, 20, had since recanted the original version of events after new evidence led to the mother being charged with perjury and was remanded in custody.

The mother was found to be the instigator behind her daughter’s allegations and the police are now expected to take steps against the daughter as well.

On Friday, the man appeared before two Courts of Appeal: one presided by Quintano and the other by Mr Justice Antonio Mizzi. Quintano abstained from the case arguing that he had already handed his judgement a year ago while Mizzi said he could not overrule a judgement handed by the same Court of Appeals.