12 arraigned after raid targeting Qormi supermarket beggars
People arrested were sleeping in makeshift shelters or behind containers
Updated 7.15pm with YMCA comment
Twelve people were taken to court on Wednesday afternoon following a police raid in Marsa that targeted homeless people and those begging in public places.
The group was brought before Magistrate Jean Paul Grech in three separate hearings, with the first involving ten men aged between 24 and 51 from Somalia, Sudan, Gambia, Malta, Italy, Nigeria and Libya.
Police said the men were found sleeping in makeshift shelters, garages or behind containers.
In a statement hours after the arraignment, YMCA, which operates a homeless shelter and drop-in centre catering to 60 people a day, said that while public safety is important, poverty should be addressed by "compassion, not criminalisation."
Inspector Gabria Gatt told the court that the raid, carried out at 5am by the migration police and the Cleansing Department, followed reports from the public about loitering and aggressive begging between Decathlon and Pavi Supermarket in Qormi.
She said individuals were approaching shoppers asking for money after they inserted coins to release trolleys. Gatt added that the idea is that if they are detained, then together with non-governmental organisations, a careplan could could be drawn up for them.
To prevent disruption during proceedings, the court ordered each of the ten men to enter the courtroom one at a time. All ten pleaded not guilty to charges of leading an idle and vagrant life and importuning people for alms in public places.
Legal aid lawyer Martin Fenech requested bail, but Inspector Gatt objected, saying the men had no fixed residence and required assistance. The court denied bail and ordered all ten to be remanded in custody.
A separate hearing was held for a 26-year-old man who was arrested while sleeping on a bench in Ħamrun, before the Marsa operation began. Asked by the court why he has not sought employment, he replied: “It is because I am homeless, I cannot find work."
His request for bail was denied due to his lack of a permanent address. Before, he left the courtroom, the court suggested that he should seek the assistance of social workers at Corradino Correctional Facility.
The final individual arraigned was a woman who had been shouting outside the courtroom before being brought in.
Inspector Gatt told the court the woman owned a dog and refused to be separated from it.
She told the court: “Tomorrow you will find me here again. I have nowhere to sleep,” adding that she was hungry and living on a bench.
“It is not out of pleasure that I sleep outside. You have no idea what I have to go through every night,” she said.
The court warned her to calm down or be removed from the room. She replied, “Send me… my dog is waiting for me.”
The magistrate denied her bail but made a recommendation to the director of Corradino Correctional Facility to accommodate the dog.