The government is drafting legislation that would allow Daniel Joe Meli to contest his extradition to the US, where he is wanted to face charges of selling hacking equipment on the dark web.
Legislators plan to introduce procedural safeguards on extradition, allowing a wanted person “adequate time” to reflect before deciding whether to accept being extradited to face trial in a foreign country, according to government sources.
The new law would include a transitory provision, allowing Meli, currently remanded in custody at Corradino Correctional Facility, to have his extradition case heard again, sources said.
The government told Times of Malta that it is evaluating all legal parameters to ensure that those who break the law in Malta face justice locally.
It would also ensure stronger safeguards in the process through which a person voluntarily agrees to be extradited, the government said.
The plan comes as 27-year-old Meli faces extradition to the United States after a grand jury in Georgia issued a bill of indictment over alleged malware sales on the dark web between December 2012 and June 2022.
Meli was arraigned in February and initially consented to the extradition, but later retracted his consent after hiring new lawyers who argued that the Magistrates’ Court had not verified whether he was medically fit and capable of understanding his decision.
Legislators plan to introduce procedural safeguards on extradition
His new lawyers, Franco Debono and Arthur Azzopardi, have filed constitutional proceedings as they seek to stave off their client’s extradition.
In those proceedings, Meli’s lawyers argue that fundamental human rights must be considered in extradition cases, including the requirement that the individual understands the implications of an extradition request.
The new law would legislate those provisions into law and supersede the constitutional court case.
For Meli to avail of that law, parliament would have to pass new legislation ideally before the constitutional court makes a final decision in his case.
On Friday, the Nationalist Party said Meli should not be extradited to the US and should face trial in Malta instead.
They said the government should not simply accept Maltese citizens being extradited overseas to be indicted in a foreign court when it is clear that the crimes that the person is being investigated over were committed in Malta.
In their statement, the government acknowledged the PN’s suggestion and reiterated it was closely following the case.