Drug trial reaches final stages

The trial by jury of Martin Dimech has reached its terminal stages after his defence lawyers gave their counter reply to the prosecution’s final arguments.

Dimech, 57, of Zejtun, is indicted for trafficking in heroin, the possession of the drug with the intent to sell it and relapsing.

Five bags containing some 925 grammes of heroin, which had been hidden in the external compartments of two fridges at the accused’s house, had been found by the police in 2009. The drug was 35% pure and had a street value estimated at €42,561, jurors were told.

The police had been following Dimech’s movements for several months, after a tip-off, before moving in to arrest him.

While under arrest, Dimech had admitted that the drugs were his and in May 2009 he was charged with trafficking heroin.

Dimech’s trial had been delayed by his filing of several human rights cases. One case before the Constitutional Court claimed that the law empowering only the Attorney General to decide whether a case should be heard by a magistrate or by a jury amounted to a breach of human rights, another, before the European Court of Human Rights, claimed his lack of legal assistance during the investigation also violated his rights.

In his closing speech, lawyer Edward Gatt, defence counsel together with lawyer Veronique Dalli suggested that the prosecution was “worried” about its evidence.

The fridges in which the drugs were allegedly found had never even been exhibited, he said, describing the prosecution’s case as speculative and “riddled with mistakes.”

Gatt stressed several times that the prosecution’s case “gave him a lot of comfort.” Addressing the jurors this morning, he attacked its emphasis on the argument that they wouldn’t have prosecuted had they not been confident about guilt.

“The AG has tried to give the impression that if they didn’t have a case, they would have issued a nullum prosequi (an order not to prosecute),” Gatt said. “Don’t think that nullum prosequis come out often, in 23 years of practicing law I’ve had just one.”

Many cases are decided against the AG, said the lawyer. “Why sell the idea that the decision to prosecute is so important and thereby condition the jurors? If you have such a strong case, why dwell on the decision to prosecute?”

Presiding Judge Antonio Mizzi was yesterday expected to address the jurors and sum up the evidence and arguments brought before them, before they retired to deliberate on a verdict.

Lawyer Lara Lanfranco from the Office of the Attorney General is prosecuting. Lawyers Veronique Dalli and Edward Gatt are defence counsel.