Inmate calls off hunger strike, but delays remain unexplained

A foreign prison inmate who went on hunger strike last Wednesday, in protest at consistent delays in his ongoing appeal case, has started accepting food again following contact with his legal counsel and embassy officials, MaltaToday has learnt.

Jose Edgar Pena, a Canadian of Mexican extraction who is currently serving an 18-year sentence of conspiracy to drug trafficking, spent more than four years in preventive detention before the commencement of his trial.

He was eventually convicted by jury on conspiracy to drug trafficking, but two years after filing an appeal in November 2010 he is still awaiting a date for sentencing, after his case was deferred no fewer than seven times without any reason supplied by the courts.

Pena's case highlights what appears to be a long-standing anomaly, whereby foreigners held in detention at the Corradino Correctional Facility often spend longer in preventative custody than their Maltese counterparts.

Currently there are 89 out of 216 foreign inmates still awaiting trial at CCF. Reasons for denying bail varies from case to casel but lawyers who spoke to MaltaToday said that it was more common for prosecuting officers to object to bail in cases involving foreigners than Maltese, as there is a higher chance the suspects might abscond.

Nonetheless, there is a legal limit to pre-tirla detention periods. Chapter 9, Section 575, of the Criminal Code stipulates a maximum period of 12 months in the case of a crime liable to the punishment of imprisonment of less than four years; 16 months in the case of a crime liable imprisonment of four years or more but less than nine years; and 20 months in the case of a crime liable to the punishment of imprisonment =20 of nine years or more.

In the case of Jose Edgar Pena, the pre-trial detention period was considerably more than twice the maximum permissible at law.

In a letter to President of the Republic Dr George Abela (copied to this newspaper), he claims to have been the victim of a misunderstanding.

"In August 4 of 2006 I came over to Malta for a holyday [sic]," Pena wrote. "During those days I received some telephone calls from a friend in Mexico regarding a car business, after that, he told me about one of his friend who was coming to Malta to attend an English course and needed help in accommodation..."

The 'friend' in question was arrested upon arrival at the airport with one and a half kilogrammes of cocaine. Pena insists he had no connection with the case; but what sparked his decision to go on permanent hunger strike this week was not so much the guilty verdict - which his family feels confident will be overturned on appeal - but rather, the extraordinary length it has taken for his case to be heard in court.

From the moment of his arrest until his conviction by jury in 2010, Pena spent four years awaiting trial in Corradino prison. He was eventually found guilty by six votes to three, and sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment and a fine of €20,000.

He originally filed his appeal in November 2010... but he is still awaiting a sentencing date, after his case was deferred on several occasions without any reasons supplied by the court.

As a consequence, Pena's letter to the President now reads like a bewildering series of dates with no end in sight:

"On 7 July of 2011, it was the first hearing of the appeal and by the urgency of the case the second one was on 12 July of 2011, the day in which the honourable judge gave the date for the sentence on 15 September of 2011, on that date I receive the new appointment for 27 October, the court emitted new documents and the date was postponed to 12 January 2012, again this was postponed to 19 April 2012, in regard to this bad situation on 30 January, I applied for a hearing to ask an early date to hear the sentence, I was summoned to the court on 16 February 2012, the honourable judge said that he will resolve it later, to my surprising, on 11 of April 2012,I received the answer ignoring what I applied for... [sic]"

On 12 April, Pena received a letter from court informing him that his appointment of 19 April had been postponed to 23 April... "but on 26 April I again received a communication from court informing that the new date was on 16 May. This date passed without any event. Today, four month later I don't have any communication from the honourable court, this kind of attitude could be interpreted as if the justice, the life of an innocent man and his family doesn't have any significance [sic]."