Updated 2.40pm

Two men arrested in connection with the construction collapse that killed Jean Paul Sofia have had a legal bid to contest the validity of their arrest dismissed. 

Lawyers for Matthew Schembri and Kurt Buhagiar had contested their client's arrest on the basis that they were not given the full evidence that had led to the arrests. 

But in a decree on Saturday afternoon, magistrate Ian Farrugia dismissed that appeal. 

Schembri and Buhagiar were among five people arrested by the police late on Friday in connection with the December 3 construction site collapse that killed Sofia, who was just 20 years old. 

The two men had obtained the Corradino Industrial Estate plot of land under government lease and were building a timber factory on it.

They have yet to be charged with a crime and are currently being held by the police under interrogation. 

Lawyers demand material evidence

In a court application filed on Saturday morning, lawyers for Schembri and Buhagiar argued that when they asked for disclosure in connection with their clients, they were told by the police that only the conclusions of the inquiry would be made available to them, because the police themselves did not have access to the inquiry in full.  

This, they argued, does not adequately constitute material evidence, because the conclusions only reflect the opinion of the inquiring magistrate, which are reached after an evaluation of the material evidence. 

Lawyers argued they could not adequately advise their clients during interrogations, because of the lack of that material evidence. 

In his decision, the magistrate said that it is the court’s opinion that the magistrate’s inquiry report satisfies the criteria for adequate disclosure for the defence. He said it is understood that while the police do not currently have access to all of the evidence compiled by the inquiry, it is in the possession of the AG and will be made available to the defence at the first opportune moment.

He added that while the fact that the defence has not been given access to all the material evidence, this does not render their initial, nor continued arrest, illegal. Therefore, he concluded Schembri and Buhagiar’s arrest is based on sound legal footing and rejected the request.

AG insists arrest is valid

However, rebutting these claims, deputy AG Philip Galea Farrugia said that the arrest was perfectly valid because it is based on the conclusions of the magisterial inquiry and that search and arrest warrants were obtained from the duty magistrate before the two suspects were arrested. 

Disclosure, he argued, is a separate issue that does not call the validity of the arrest into question. He explained that the AG received the inquiry on Friday and after the police were notified, arrests had been made.

At the time, the police only had in their possession the magistrate’s conclusions, a report of some 60 pages, which includes a summary of all the evidence heard during the inquiry. This, he said, was offered to the defence, however, it was not accepted. 

Appearing for the defence, lawyer Arthur Azzopardi argued that not providing the suspects with all the disclosure related to their case is in violation of a European directive, backed up by European Court of Human Rights judgments, that suspects have a right to disclosure in order to challenge the validity of the arrest and work on their defence. 

Defence lawyer Franco Debono also rebutted that while the initial arrest of the two men may have been valid, their continued arrest, while both the police and their lawyers continue to comb through evidence to mount their case, is not and may constitute a breach of rights. 

If such is the state of affairs, then the suspects should be given bail and the defence allowed to properly examine the evidence against them, he argued. 

Shortly after 2pm on Saturday, the magistrate decreed that the court was dismissing the two men's application.

The prosecution was represented by Police Inspector Paul Camilleri, assisted by lawyers Philip Galea Farrugia and Abigail Caruana Vella from the Attorney General’s Officer.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Arthur Azzopardi and Jacob Magri appeared for Buhagiar and Schembri. Magistrate Ian Farrugia presided over the sitting.