Cleared of illegal fishing charges

The captain of a fishing vessel and four crew members yesterday let out a sigh of relief when a magistrate acquitted them of illegally fishing in Maltese waters after noting that the prosecution's evidence was riddled with inconsistencies.

The captain of the Cyprus-registered vessel Alexander K, Wagih Mohammed El-Ghaly Abou-Hegazy, 37, his brother Oussama Mohammed El-Ghaly Abou-Hegazy, 26, their two cousins Emad El-Din Khalil Ibrahim Abou-Hegazy, 29, and Ibrahim Khalil Ibrahim Abou-Hegazy, 28, and Abdou Helmy El-Bousaty, 30, were all cleared of illegal fishing.

Magistrate Denis Montebello heard how Lieutenant Donald Debono, the captain of the patrol boat that intercepted the vessel, exhibited two print-outs of the vessel's bearings at 10 p.m. and 10.20 p.m. taken from the electronic chart display information system.

The two documents showed that at 10 p.m. the vessel was 22.27 nautical miles away from Delimara point and 20 minutes later, at 10.20 p.m., it was 25.39 miles away from the same point.

On evaluating the evidence the magistrate said he was troubled by the evidence brought forward by the prosecution since despite the precision required for such an operation of international implication, the evidence was riddled with inconsistencies.

The bearings of the vessel's position at 10 p.m., taken by Lt. Debono, did not match those taken by Gunner Johann Theuma at the same time.

Besides, although Lt. Debono said he had taken the two bearings with a 20 minute interval, the time was not recorded onto the exhibited documents.

The documents showed that in a matter of 20 minutes the vessel moved from 22.27 nautical miles to 25.39 miles, that is 3.12 miles, away from Delimara. However, the documents recorded that in those 20 minutes the vessel had moved north and not away from Delimara.

The 3.12 mile shift indicated the vessel was travelling at 9.36 knots, which was impossible for a fishing vessel with the fishing nets in the sea, as was stated by the prosecution.

All this, the magistrate noted, indicated a serious mistake in the registration of the vehicle's bearings and, as a result, the two documents were deemed as unreliable evidence.

The magistrate noted that the defence had exhibited print-outs of the vessel's bearings taken from a satellite at 9.36 p.m. and 10.36 p.m. which showed they were beyond 26 miles away from Delimara.

Consequently, the magistrate ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges brought against the five men to the level beyond reasonable doubt.

Police Inspectors Ramon Mercieca and Josric Mifsud prosecuted.

Dr Ramona Frendo and Dr Daniela Mangion represented the accused.