The trial of a Maltese man who has been extradited to Italy to face human trafficking charges in connection with the smuggling of Turkish immigrants from Malta to the Sicilian coast five years ago cannot start before the extradition of two of the other four defendants who still in Malta.
John Xuereb, 61, of St Paul’s Bay, appeared for the first time during the criminal proceedings in connection with this case in front of the Modica Courts on 28 February.
Xuereb’s defence lawyer, Salvatore Campisi, said that the two other defendants residing in Malta who have still not been extradited to Italy – Turkish national Aslan Yilmaz, 46; and Algerian national Ferhat Guellouma, 56, have been “recently freed by the Maltese authorities and it would therefore be difficult to find them”.
The three-judge panel, presided by Giovanna Scibilia and judges Ciraolo and Di Marco, requested Interpol to proceed to the extradition of the two men.
Superintendent Sandro Gatt, head of the Correctional Facility (CCF), confirmed to MaltaToday that Yilmaz was freed from prison after being granted bail on 28 December last year, a day after he was arraigned in court in connection with the extradition proceedings.
However, Guellouma – whose extradition has already been granted by the Maltese courts – was still in prison serving a five-year sentence for human trafficking.
The other three defendants are Tunisian nationals Sadok Bougmini, 45, and Maktouf Farkat, 38; and Turkish national Murath Kalas, 40. Bougmini was assisted by defence lawyer Raffaele Drago, Farkat by Enrico Platania, while Kalas was assisted by Giovanni Giurdanella. The trial has been adjourned to 4 April.
Xuereb was escorted from Corradino Prison to Malta International Airport (MIA) on the morning of 15 February, where he boarded a flight bound to Rome’s Fiumicino Airport escorted by Italian police officers from the Italian Interpol section. Upon his arrival, Xuereb was transferred to Regina Coeli prison in Rome.
Italian sources told MaltaToday that Xuereb was interrogated by the judge for preliminary investigations in Rome. The more significant interrogation took place by the judge for preliminary investigations at the Modica Courts, Maurizio Gurrieri, when Xuereb was transferred to Ragusa.
Xuereb, Yilmaz and Guellouma, all residing in Malta, had already been served with European Arrest Warrants by the Italian authorities in connection with this case. All of them are being charged by the Italian authorities with conspiracy in human trafficking following the landing of two groups of Turkish migrants five years ago.
The European Arrest Warrants were issued by judge Gurrieri of the Modica courts on 12 June 2003 after a request by investigating magistrate Domenico Platania with the assistance of the Ragusa Mobile Squad.
On 7 February, the Magistrates’ Court presided over by Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona authorised the extradition of Xuereb to Italy in connection with the “Topkapi” case.
Earlier, on 5 February, the Magistrates Court presided over by Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna authorised the extradition of Guellouma to Italy despite the fact that he is already serving a five-year jail term in Malta in connection with another case.
The Court ruled that Guellouma should return to Malta after the proceedings in Italy are concluded and any prison term is served.
Italian sources close to the investigation told this newspaper that there should not be any problems with the Algerian man’s extradition from Malta after the necessary procedural matters are sorted out.
A month earlier, on 27 December last year, Yilmaz was arraigned in the Magistrates’ Court presided over by Magistrate Tonio Micallef Trigona with similar charges.
However the Court suspended the hearing about the extradition proceedings after the defence pointed out that Yilmaz has a pending court case in Malta.
Speaking during a press conference at the Ragusa police mobile squad on 19 January, the deputy head of the Ragusa Mobile Squad, Francesco Marino, explained how the criminal gang organized the trafficking of Turkish nationals from Turkey to Italy using Malta as a gateway.
Guellouma, who owned a hotel in Malta and Yilmaz, who owned a restaurant at Gzira, hosted the Turkish migrants who were scheduled to be trafficked from Malta to Ragusa on a powerboat.
On the other hand, Xuereb would pick up the men from their accommodation and take them to the powerboat, where he would take them on board the powerboat and make the actual journey at sea between the two islands with the migrants on board.
According to the Italian authorities, the three men were in contact with two Turkish nationals in Turkey, one of whom owned a travel agency.
They also had accomplices in Ragusa – in fact after the two landings on 11 and 20 March 2003 at Punta Braccetto, a beach in the area, the two Tunisian men who would assist the migrants after landing in Sicily – Bougmini and Farkat – were subsequently arrested.
The Turkish migrants would pay at least €4,000 each for the two-leg journey from Turkey to Sicily. They made the first part of the journey from Turkey to Malta by air using a valid a tourist visa.
They would then wait in Malta for their turn for the second part of the journey by boat from Malta to Sicily.

czahra@mediatoday.com.mt