The Ragusa Courts have refused bail for the three Maltese alleged human traffickers arrested in Sicily after they were caught red-handed ferrying 19 migrants – 18 men from Nigeria and a woman from Ivory Coast – to the Punta Braccetto area on the Ragusan coast on a speedboat during the night between 18 September 2009 and 19 September 2009.
Ragusa GIP (Giudice Per Le Indagini Preliminari) Vincenzo Ignaccolo, in a ruling, rejected the request that had been made by defence lawyer Biagio Ragusa, who was assisting the three men.
The three men – Madrid-born Joseph, better known as José Xerri, 43, Michael Aquilina, 35 from Pietà, and Kurt Buhagiar, 26 from Birkirkara – will therefore remained in custody at the Ragusa prisons under a hearing for their case is set by the Ragusan Courts.
Sources close to the investigation in Ragusa told MaltaToday that the trial of the three men “was not going to take place in a short period of time, especially after last Tuesday, the Ragusan police had opened judicial proceedings against the 19 immigrants that were landed at Punto Braccetto for entering clandestinely in Italy, which has become a crime under Italian law a few weeks ago.
“It is highly probable that the Ragusa Investigating Magistrate will join the two proceedings together,” MaltaToday’s sources in Ragusa added.
“If things move expeditiously, than the trial might begin in November, but this is highly improbable,” our sources in Ragusa warned.
The previous morning, when the three Maltese men had been arraigned in a Sicilian court and charged with the landing of 19 immigrants, off the Ragusan coast, the hearing at the Ragusa prisons lasted only a few minutes as the accused did not answer to the questions asked by the Ragusa GIP about the case.
The men had been charged in front of Ragusa’s judge for preliminary investigation, with conspiracy in human trafficking, resisting a warship and trying to ram it.
Ragusa, who was appointed as legal aid for the three men by the Italian authorities, had called on the Court to award the three a measure which is less severe than arrest.
The Ragusa GIP had reserved the right to decide at a later stage and today he is expected to announce his decision on bail.
Also taking part in the preliminary hearing was Carmel Petralia, the Procuratore della Repubblica at Ragusa.
Meanwhile, Xerri has appointed Maltese prominent criminal lawyer Emmanuel Mallia to assist him in the criminal proceedings in Ragusa.
As to the fate of the 19 migrants, which have been transferred to a reception centre at Caltanissetta, and when they will be transferred to Malta under the Dublin II Treaty as the country of origin, sources in Ragusa told Maltatoday that this will not be known immediately as the migrants have 120 days in which they could ask for asylum status.
“However at the end of the 120 days, whoever has not requested political asylum will be transferred to Malta,” MaltaToday’s sources in Ragusa added.
The three Maltese men were arrested in the early hours of 19 September by the Italian Guardia di Finanza after a high-speed chase during which rounds of high-calibre shots were fired across the bow of the “Enrique”, a Valletta-registered powerboat, to put an end to a high-speed chase.
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