Lithuanian case threatens to provoke diplomatic row
Raphael Vassallo The case of a 29-year-old Lithuanian national, denied bail since his arrest in Malta last September, has made headlines in his home country, and now threatens to precipitate a diplomatic spat between the two EU member States.
Thomas Mikalauskas has referred his case to the European Court of Human Rights, citing discrimination on the basis of nationality – a claim vociferously supported by Lithuania’s Rome-based ambassador to Malta, Peter Zapolskas.
“I think it is unfair towards our citizens,” Zapolskas this week told daily newspaper Lietuvos Lrytas (Lithuanian Morning). “I fully support the appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. This is the only way to really determine whether there was or was not a human rights violation.”
Thomas Mikalauskas was one of six suspects arrested five months ago over a haul of 450 grammes of cannabis in a Bugibba hotel room. But while all the other suspects – including British, Serbian and Maltese citizens – were granted bail, Mikaluaskas was the only one remanded in custody on the grounds that he had ‘no ties with Malta’.
The decision to withhold bail was subsequently confirmed on appeal; and last Friday, a third request for bail by defence lawyer Gianella Caruana Curran was once again turned down by the Magistrate’s Court.
Zapolskas indicated that he had previously raised the issue of discrimination with the local authorities, to no avail.
“They are not convicted criminals, only suspects, and the Maltese courts have not yet proven otherwise,” he said. “Therefore I wrote a letter to the Maltese court asking that (Mikaluaskas) be treated the same way as the citizens of other countries.”
In his submission to the ECHR, Thomas Mikaluaskas lists a number of other alleged human rights violations by the Maltese authorities, including: detention without reasonable evidence of a crime having been committed; lack of legal assistance while under arrest; lack of an interpreter while under police interrogation; that no attempt was made to inform his next of kin of his arrest; and lack of adequate medical attention for a life-threatening health condition (Mikaluaskas suffers from a cerebral vascular dilation, which can be fatal under stressful conditions).
The story has been given considerable prominence by newspapers in Lithuania, where Mikaluaskas’ parents are both highly regarded personalities in their own right: his father, Anthony Mikaluskas, is a well-known folk music composer and member of the Keidainai city council; his mother Jane is the head of that city’s cultural centre.
Under the headline ‘From Malta, a Lithuanian cry’, Lrytas reports that Jane Mikalauskiene will shortly be coming to Malta to meet local authorities in connection with her son’s case.
“In the short term I am preparing to go to Malta and investigate accordingly. I believe that communication by letters and over the phone does not reflect all the circumstances,” she told the newspaper. “I will be meeting with that country’s officials to find out what is really happening.”
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