A court was forced to postpone a trial by jury scheduled to begin on Monday, saying the attorney general’s late filings were to blame.

In an unusual move, the courts issued a statement through the Department of Information condemning prosecutors for having only filed a request to track down foreign witnesses on January 9.

The trial date was established in September, the court noted.

“This is condemnable and leading to delays in proceedings, to the detriment of the defendant who has fundamental rights,” the court said, noting that the case has been dragging on since 2011.

The case concerns a man who was arrested in 2011 in connection with a seizure of 2.2 kg of heroin in Germany.

Three men caught with the drug, all Lithuanian nationals, had allegedly named the defendant as their interlocutor while being interrogated by German police.

It took almost 15 years for the case to reach the trial stage. Legal sources told Times of Malta that during that period, no attempt was made to track down the Lithuanian men who first named the defendant.

But it now appears prosecutors have changed their legal approach.

Sources say the Attorney General’s office has now decided they want the Lithuanian men to testify in the case and have made an effort to track them down.

That change of approach has forced the court to delay the trial by jury.

In its statement, the court said there was no equality of arms between the prosecution and defence in the case, given that it was unclear who the prosecution intended to summon as a witness in the case.

It said it was therefore postponing the trial by jury “until the Attorney General is in a position to better declare who it intends to present as a witness in this trial by jury”.