One of two men involved in the hijack of an Afriqiyah Airlines Airbus 320 to Malta just before Christmas 2016 was sentenced to 25 years in jail and fined almost €10,000 on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to the charges brought against him.

Soko Moussa Shaha Ali was arrested after releasing the 109 passengers and seven crew on December 23, 2016.

The plane had been on an internal flight in Libya when it was hijacked and forced to land in Malta by supporters of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The hijackers had threatened to blow up the plane, but their weapons later turned out to be fake.

Their demands were never made clear.

The two men have been awaiting trial ever since. 

The two were arraigned on Christmas Day 2016 amid tight security. The other suspect, Ali Ahmed Saleh, is denying his involvement.

Handing down judgment against Soko, Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera noted that although no one was injured, the court had to send a message that it took such acts of terrorism very seriously. She observed that according to law, the accused could face between seven years and life in prison for his crime.

However, the early guilty plea and the fact that none of the passengers were injured on suffered psychological trauma as a result of the hijack was in the accused’s favour.

She therefore jailed him for 25 years and ordered him to pay a €9,990 fine within one year. Otherwise this will be converted to more jail time.

Lawyer George Anton Buttigieg was defence counsel to Soko Moussa. Lawyer Elaine Mercieca Rizzo from the AG’s Office and Inspector Omar Zammit from anti-terrorism unit prosecuted.