‘It's like living in an open prison': El Hiblu accused say six years on

Two of three young men facing controversial terrorism charges over an incident that occurred when they were teenagers have spoken about their experience living with the case that entered its seventh year today.

Amara Kromah, Abdalla Bari and Abdul Kader were just 16, 15 and 19 years old when they were arrested and accused of hijacking the merchant vessel El Hiblu after it rescued them and more than 100 others at sea in March 2019.

An international coalition of human rights advocates – including President Emeritus Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca – have blasted the charges, however, arguing the three acted as translators and mediators when the rescuees panicked after realising they were being taken back to Libya.

Speaking to Times of Malta on the sixth anniversary of the trio’s arrival in Malta, where they were met by the police and arrested, Kromah said his time in the country since, awaiting a decision on the case, felt like “living in an open prison”.

In November 2023, the attorney general (AG) decided to press ahead with terrorism charges against the three men to the dismay of activists, after the case lay dormant for more than a year.

The case remains ongoing, with a trial date yet to be announced.

“I feel very frustrated and so helpless... I have been deprived of my youth,” said Kromah.

“At the same time, I praise God for keeping me alive and healthy. My message to readers is that it’s our rights and justice that we’re fighting for.”

Commenting on the case, Bari said the authorities would “know they’ve made a big mistake in the end; we’re nothing but immigrants who tried to calm down panic on a boat”.

In a statement, the Coalition for the El Hiblu 3 – a group of activists calling for the release of the three men – said the trio had “endured a seemingly endless legal process riddled with failures” over the past six years.

The organisation said the three had “endured 2,192 days of unjust criminalisation”.

It stressed, however, that “many have supported them in their struggle to clear their names”, highlighting an event last year that saw the three men presented with Human Rights Defenders Awards by Coleiro Preca.

Speaking at the event last year, Kromah had told Times of Malta how he had felt “frustrated and betrayed” upon learning the AG had decided to press ahead with the case. He had called being described as a terrorist “like something out of a movie” and asked how someone could be described as such while not carrying a weapon.

Amara Kromah, pictured here at a human rights awards ceremony last year, said he felt ‘frustrated and so helpless’. Photo: El Hiblu 3 Coalition

‘In limbo for six years’

Commenting on the duration of the case, coalition member Maurice Stierl said: “When we started to call for their freedom in 2019, we could not have imagined we would still be here six years on, repeating the same demands, again and again, like a broken record”.

William Grech, a coalition member and member of refugee NGO Kopin Malta, stressed the three were “not criminals and, yet, they have been thrown in limbo for six years” while calling for the charges to be dropped.

Highlighting the “violent theft” of the trio’s youth, fellow activist Ċetta Mainwaring said that, seeing the three remain “steadfast” throughout, was a “guiding light to us all”.

Meanwhile, coalition member Joanna Jebaili stressed that if the public “were to consider seeing these young people as your own children, you may find yourself fighting for the El Hiblu 3 too”, while Daniela DeBono said the years “in limbo... has marked them for life. The charges should be dropped, immediately!”