A former president has slammed Malta’s justice system for disregarding children’s rights in the case of the El Hiblu 3.

Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said she was “disgusted” by the way authorities had ignored the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and thrown children into jail.

“The case of Amara, Kader and Abdallah is a clear violation of children’s human rights,” Coleiro Preca said at a demonstration in Valletta on Saturday.

The former president is among those leading calls for prosecutors to drop terrorism charges against Amara Kromah, Kader Abdul and Abdalla Bari, who were children when they were first arrested and detained in March 2019.

The trio are accused of having led a hijack of a commercial vessel, the El Hiblu, that had rescued them and other asylum seekers at sea. They insist they just acted as interpreters, because they could communicate with the captain in English and French.

 Their case has received international attention and become the subject of campaigns in Malta and abroad. 

They spent months in jail before being granted bail. Last November, the attorney general decided to take the case to trial. If found guilty, they face up to a lifetime in jail. 

A sign outside the law courts pledges 'efficient justice', as demonstrators gather outside the court. Five years have passed since the El Hiblu 3 were arrested. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Demonstrators gathered in Saturday outside the Valletta law courts to mark five years since the three were arrested and announce that they will be handing them a human rights award to recognise their courage.

“We have violated, in the most appalling way, children’s human rights,” Coleiro Preca, who now leads the Mediterranean Children’s Movement, said.

She noted that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Malta has agreed to be bound by since 1990, explicitly states that “the best interest of the child shall be the primary consideration” in all state actions concerning minors. The convention also forbids cruel and degrading treatment, she said.

“Instead of celebrating their immense strength of character... they were condemned as criminals,” she said of Amara, Kader and Abdalla. “Is it a crime to communicate in more than one language? Is it a crime to mediate to calm and restore some peace?”

Christine Cassar from Moviment Graffitti said the three were heroes who had managed to calm a tense situation aboard the ship, who were thanked by being thrown into jail aged 15, 16 and 19.

She reiterated activists call for prosecutors to drop charges against the three.

“We’re still in time for the state to drop the case,” she said. “These three young men are heroes.”