Army officer testifies on boat interception

A Maltese man who was apprehended by the Armed Forces of Malta while at sea with five foreign men told the lieutenant on board the patrol boat he was taking the men for a trip around Gozo.

Lieutenant James Louis Grech, stationed at AFM's maritime squad, yesterday told Magistrate Giovanni Grixti that on October 7, 2004, he was ordered to intercept the speed boat Brave Heart that was being towed by another boat called Ave Maria.

When he arrived no one was aboard the speed boat and he learnt that six men - a Maltese, three Chinese and two Libyans - had been transferred onto the towing boat. The officer said the men seemed to be very weak. On speaking to them, the Maltese man told him he was taking the other five for a trip round Gozo and a Libyan man confirmed this.

One of the Chinese men said he had been eating toothpaste as there was no food on board.

The officer was testifying in the compilation of evidence in the case against Chinese Geng Yan, 37, charged with assisting the men in their attempt to leave Malta illegally.

Geng had filed a guilty plea in November last year but the compilation of evidence is continuing on instructions by the Attorney General.