A Libyan man who claimed in court that he was not “so familiar with Maltese,” after giving a statement to police without the assistance of an interpreter, had his case suspended after his lawyer flagged a potential human rights breach.
Miloud Elforjani, 39, was arrested in August 2019 after allegedly damaging his employers’ cars when venting frustration over unpaid wages.
Upon arraignment, he had pleaded not guilty and was granted bail whilst proceedings continued.
But those proceedings have now been halted after the Magistrates’ Court upheld a request for a constitutional reference by Elforjani’s lawyer, Daniel Attard.
That request stemmed from the fact that when the accused had originally released his statements to the police in July 2019, he had not been assisted by an Arab-speaking interpreter.
He had signed a declaration confirming that he understood and spoke Maltese.
That document, though not dated, bore the signatures of two officers, namely the prosecuting inspector and a sergeant.
Days later, upon Elforjani’s arraignment, the court minuted that when asked if he understood Maltese, the accused had replied that he “would try to understand,” adding that since he was a Libyan national, he spoke Arabic.
Faced with that situation, the court had appointed an Arab-speaking interpreter to assist him, and that assistance continued as the case ran its course.
However, the defence lawyer argued that the absence of an interpreter during the interrogation of the suspect at pre-trial stage raised a human rights issue and thus merited consideration by the constitutional courts.
Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo upheld that request after analyzing the relative provision of the Constitution in the light of relevant caselaw.
She concluded that the request was not vexatious and merited being explored by the constitutional court. She therefore upheld the request and suspended the criminal proceedings until the constitutional matter is decided.
Inspector Oriana Spiteri prosecuted.
Lawyer Daniel Attard was defence counsel.