LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Maltese justice system was slammed once again, this time in the case of the ‘El Hiblu 3’ – three African young migrants who prevented an unlawful pushback to Libya while on board the El Hiblu oil tanker, and instead are accused by the Maltese authorities of having led a hijack of a commercial vessel, the El Hiblu, that had rescued them and other asylum seekers at sea. The migrants are insisting they just acted as interpreters, because they could communicate with the captain in English and French. Their case has received international attention and become the centre of awareness campaigns in Malta and abroad. Former President of Malta Marie Louise Coleiro Preca said she was “disgusted” by the way the Maltese authorities had ignored the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and thrown children into jail. “The case of Amara, Kader and Abdallah is a clear violation of children’s human rights,” Coleiro Preca said at a demonstration in Valletta infront of the law courts to mark five years since their arrest. The former president is among those leading calls for Maltese prosecutors to drop terrorism charges against Amara Kromah, Kader Abdul and Abdalla Bari, who were children when they were first arrested and detained in March 2019. The three at the age of 15, 16 and 19, had managed to calm a tense situation aboard the ship.
They spent months in jail before being granted bail. Last November, the attorney general decided to move ahead and take the case to trial. If found guilty, they face up to a lifetime in jail. (ITALPRESS).
Foto: Net News
