NEWS | Sunday, 15 July 2007

Eight Maltese citizens in foreign prisons

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs told this newspaper that in all there are eight Maltese citizens with a Maltese passport who are serving a prison sentence in a foreign country. In Australia, a Maltese person was found guilty of homicide and was sentenced to prison in 1993. Another Maltese was found guilty of murder and drug trafficking and was jailed in Turkey during 2002.
Four Maltese individuals are currently in prison in Italy: two were accused and found guilty of drug trafficking and were both sentenced to prison in 2003, and the other two were imprisoned on the basis of human trafficking and sentenced in 2004 and 2005 respectively.
In the United States of America, one Maltese person was found guilty of defilement of a minor in the year 2004, and in 2005, another was found guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced to prison in Holland.
A spokesperson for the Ministry said that a register listing the number of Maltese citizens with a Maltese passport who are living in each respective country is not available due to the fact that Maltese individuals residing in countries where Malta has a diplomatic representation are encouraged to register with these offices of their own accord. The registration might enable Maltese diplomatic representatives aid Maltese citizens residing abroad should the need arise or in the case of any incidents.