Lawyer defending Lifeline captain warned by court not to hold press conferences

The lawyer defending MV Life Line captain Claus-Peter Reisch has been warned by a magistrate not to hold any more press conferences on the courthouse steps.

Lawyer Cedric Mifsud has addressed the media after most sittings in the case against Reisch, who is charged with ship registration irregularities.

Yesterday morning, however, before the sitting began, Magistrate Joe Mifsud warned the lawyer not to talk to the press: “If there’s someone in favour of freedom of expression it’s me, but we must be fair and let the courts decide… it’s not fair to the people to give a certain impression when proceedings are underway.”

Cases, he said, were to be decided in the courtroom, not in the press.

Magistrate Mifsud also lamented the fact that the defence had filed an application just an hour before the sitting was to take place, asking that the court order the prosecution to close its evidence.

Meanwhile, the case itself remains stalled as the attorney general’s office waits for replies to rogatory letters sent to the Dutch authorities.

“It is a Dutch problem that the papers haven’t arrived,” the court clarified, explaining that the system had changed and that the Dutch authorities didn’t want rogatory letters, but had asked to use a different procedure.

“I encourage the Dutch authorities to work quickly. It’s not the attorney general’s fault, it’s a bureaucratic issue, ”the magistrate added.

“Let me be clear: I’m not going to wait an eternity. I have a date in mind and I will stick to it,“said Magistrate Mifsud. He had spoken to a number of lawyers from the Office of the Attorney General, including Deputy Attorney General Philip Galea Farrugia, and said he was convinced that they were making every effort to resolve the issue.

The case is set to continue on November 19.

Just before the hearing, Lifeline activists were in Valletta to once again protest against the government’s decision to “hold hostage” three rescue ships, claiming that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was happy to tweet about a rescued dog “no less than seven times a day.” The activists, wearing dog costumes, mocked what they believe to be the prime minister’s excessive focus on a dog named Bella, which was rescued together with 58 people by the Armed Forces of Malta after being transferred to a patrol boat from the MV Aquarius, another NGO vessel involved in migrant rescue operations.

“In honourable, statesmanlike tradition, (Muscat) did not let himself get distracted by the multidimensional complexities of asylum policy or humane values, instead using his profile to tweet about Bella no less than seven times in one day,” the group said.

While calling on the media not to ignore the dog, the group also highlighted the plight of “thousands of drowning people.”

“If only they had been born dogs, instead of children, women and men, maybe then they would have been worthy of our attention.”