Couple awaiting extradition remains behind bars

The Chief Justice turned down a request for bail by a French couple who will be extradited on the basis of a European Arrest Warrant issued against them by Paris.

Alain Schmitt, 49, and his girlfriend, Laurence Liegeois, 47, who both form part of a French sect, appealed a decision by Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna to turn down their bail request after he ordered their extradition last month.

The French authorities want Mr Schmitt and Ms Liegeois to serve prison sentences after being convicted for kidnapping, torture and extortion. The main argument by defence lawyer Emmy Bezzina was that Mr Schmitt is 98 per cent blind and suffers from severe diabetes, which cannot really be treated while he is under arrest.

He claimed that Ms Liegeois was the only person who was able to look after him properly. In addition, since the couple had an eight-year-old son, she needed to be released to properly look after the boy, Dr Bezzina argued.

Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano ruled that Mr Schmitt's medical condition was not as alarming as it was being made out to be. The man was receiving adequate medical attention at the detention section of Mount Carmel Hospital and there was no need for him to be tended by Ms Liegeois.

With regard to the care of the boy, the court said he was being looked after by the couple's friends. However, the court said it would be sending a copy of the decree to the ministry responsible for social policy to make the necessary arrangements to ensure the boy was well looked after.