Two police officers are to be charged with involuntary homicide, two years after the death of a man while under arrest at police headquarters.
Times of Malta has confirmed that Police Sergeant Karl Vella Cassia and Inspector Tracy Gatt will be charged over the death of Richmond Tong, a 35-year-old from Mtarfa, who died after suffering a seizure in his cell at police headquarters on June 24, 2020, at 3.40am.
He had been arrested a few hours earlier on suspicion of cocaine possession.
It is believed that he ingested the drugs and the police failed to offer him medical assistance.
Vella Cassia will separately be charged with giving false testimony during a magisterial inquiry into the death.
The two officers will be taken to court on July 25 and will appear before Magistrate Doreen Clarke.
The charges come after mounting pressure from the Tong family who is demanding compensation, claiming the state caused his death.
In a judicial letter that was filed last year, the deceased’s mother and relatives called on the home affairs minister, the police commissioner and the state advocate to settle compensation.
The government has told Times of Malta that any claims for compensation will only be addressed once the court process has ended.
Officers 'failed to provide medical treatment'
The family claims that Tong’s death happened as a “direct result” of police officers’ conduct, adding that it was “a lack of diligence, prudence or thought” that saw the officers fail to give Tong the necessary medical treatment on the night of his death.
At the time, one high-ranking police source had told Times of Malta that the family’s call for compensation came after a development in an ongoing inquiry into the death which appeared to back up the assertion that his death could have been prevented.
The development, believed to be in the form of credible testimony, came from a reliable witness, the source said.
After his death, a magisterial inquiry was launched to establish what happened. The court charges come a few weeks after the conclusion of that inquiry.
The family has also instituted a constitutional case, currently ongoing, claiming breach of human rights after having been denied access to the inquest into the death.
At the time, the Nationalist Party had called for an independent inquiry into the arrested man’s death, including its causes, whether it could have been prevented and who was responsible for precautions to safeguard the man’s health.
The party also asked if all laws and protocols had been observed.
The Tong family is being represented by lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb.