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[WATCH] Protestors call for release of Daniel Holmes, revision of drug laws
Speakers from Grafitti, AD and Drug Policy Reform Malta deplore harsh sentence meted out to convicted Briton
26 October 2013, 12:00am
Raphael Vassallo
Raphael Vassallo
1 min read
Marzena Holmes was present at the protest (Photo: Ray Attard/Mediatoday)
Around 150 demonstrators congregated outside the law courts in Valletta today to demand the release of Daniel Holmes - currently serving an 11-year sentence for cultivating marijuana - and calling for a revision of the law to bring Malta's drug policy in line with the European norm, where marijuana is classed as a 'soft drug' and treated accordingly.
Holmes' wife Marzena, 26, together with three-month-old daughter Rainbow, was present for the march down Republic Street. Visibly emotional, she made an impassioned appeal for her husband's release. "The Lord's angels have all come down to Malta today," she said in reference to the protestors.
VIDEO Ray Attard/Mediatoday
The protest was organized by Moviment Graffitti, Alternattiva Demokratika and Drug Policy Reform Malta. Speakers from all three organizations deplored the harsh sentence meted out to Holmes, while drawing parallels with much lighter sentences handed down by the same courts for much more serious crimes, including attempted murder, aggravated assault and grievous bodily harm.
Reference was also made to clinical studies suggesting that cannabis may have medicinal properties, and questioning its status as a 'dangerous drug' according to Maltese law.
Daniel Holmes' final appeal ruling will be delivered next Thursday, 31 October.
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I agree that Mr Holmes broke a Maltese Law and he should have been punished, but I don't think the sentence in this case fits the crime. The sentence was so harsh because the Judge wanted to make an example of Mr Holmes because he happened to be a foreigner. Other Maltese citizens were handed a lot lesser sentence or a suspended sentence for a lot more grievous offenses and that is a fact. Mr Holmes found himself in the wrong court with the wrong judge, Amen. I think that Mr Holmes has paid his due to society and more. Mr Holmes should be released immediately. I am in no way condoning what Mr Holmes did but the sentence does not fit the crime. This was purely another miscarriage of justice by our incompetent court.
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Soft drug or not it leads to hard drugs. This apart, he was found guilty of trafficking. He did not have a few grames or one plant but 30 plants. Would anyone believe that they were for personal consumption? As they sayign goes, you did the crime now do the time.
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Malta seems to be behind the times on so many issues... why not this one too?
Not only is marijuana a "soft" drug i.e. one that is not habit forming (whereas coffee and cigarettes and alcohol are!) but it is not only good for medical reasons to help fight against pain, it is more and more becoming the subject of study in the fight against cancer. Certain properties in marijuana are now believed to be able to help fight cancer directly... as mentioned in the New York Times today; don't the Magistrates read ANYTHING modern in Malta? A man can purposely run over an Australian tourist who called him a fag - leaving him handicapped for life - and the driver gets released as "he had been insulted in front of his friends".
Sorry, but any washer-woman could do better sentencing than Maltese magistrates, it would seem.
Scandalous!
