The Attorney General will not stop the prosecution of a man first arrested 17 years ago and still awaiting trial for the murder of Baron Francis Sant Cassia, but the Office will not contest any allegation by the defence that the accused is medically unfit to stand trial, a court was told on Thursday.

Carmel Camilleri, a 68-year old father-of-four, was arraigned in 2006 and accused of the fatal shooting which took place on October 27, 1988. He pleaded not guilty and has been on bail since.  

His health has deteriorated to the extent that he is wheelchair-bound and can no longer have a simple conversation.

His lawyers in March filed a judicial protest arguing that they could not offer him legal advice and that the situation had resulted in a breach of his fundamental rights including his right to a fair trial within a reasonable time and his right to protection against inhuman and degrading treatment.

Last year, a court of appeal confirmed that statements released by Camilleri in 2006 were not admissible as evidence since they had been given without the assistance of a lawyer. 

As the accused’s medical condition worsened, his lawyers questioned why the Attorney General had allowed the case to drag on, while knowing that there was not a “shred of evidence” against Camilleri.

The trial was scheduled for April but was postponed while the accused’s condition continued to be assessed and debated by the parties, after medical specialists pronounced Camilleri unfit to face trial.

Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera had ordered Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg to attend Wednesday's sitting to explain the prosecution’s position.

When the hearing got underway, lawyer Kevin Valletta, representing the Attorney General, informed the court that the AG would not issue a nolle prosequi in respect of Camilleri.

However, if the defence formally raised the issue that the accused could not stand trial because of a medical impediment, the AG would not contest that allegation.

In terms of article 625 of the Criminal Code, where the attorney general does not contest that allegation, “the court shall proceed as if the truth of that allegation had been proven.”

Defence lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Kris Busietta requested some time to explain the situation to the accused’s family who were following proceedings in court.

The accused himself, seated in a wheelchair, made no reaction whatsoever.

Madam Justice Scerri Herrera upheld the request and deferred the case to next week.

A Times report of the murder 35 years ago.

During Camilleri's arraignment in 2006, Superintendent Pierre Calleja, who prosecuted together with Inspector Christopher Pullicino, said in court that the police had received confidential information about the involvement of the accused but when arrested, he had denied any involvement.

However, when he was rearrested a few days later, the accused admitted it was he who had shot Baron Sant Cassia. When the police took him to the place where the murder had taken place, he explained to them how the murder was carried out and this description matched exactly what the police had found on the scene of the crime at the time.

A second person, believed at the time to have commissioned the murder, was detained by the police, but never arraigned.

Times of Malta reported at the time that police believed the accused had received a substantial sum of money to shoot Sant Cassia, who was 68 when he was killed by a single gunshot in front of his residence.

It was believed that someone had called Sant Cassia on his phone shortly before he was shot at 6.30 p.m. by someone who was waiting for him outside his house. The baron was shot in the back from quite a close range as he was getting into his car.