Malta Independent

Former prisoner pleads to be sent to Spain, not Nigeria

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An ex-convict hoping to leave Malta after serving a sentence for drug traffickin­g says he has found himself in legal limbo after refusing to be deported back to his native Nigeria, insisting on being sent to Spain instead.

To stop his deportatio­n, Joseph Feilazoo had petitioned the European court of Human Rights, claiming that his human rights were being infringed upon by Malta. Amongst other things, Feilazoo complained of “excessive use of force by correction­al officers, against whom he had proceeding­s pending, as a result of which he was charged with crimes he did not commit, as opposed to being treated as a victim, following a failure to protect him.”

His story begins in August 2008 when had originally been arrested at the airport upon arriving on a flight from Spain with 65 capsules containing 912 grammes of cocaine, 25 grammes of heroin and almost six grammes of cannabis, hidden in his stomach and rectum. Feilazoo had been convicted of drug traffickin­g by a jury in 2010, being jailed for 12 years and fined €50,000 for conspiring to import, importing and traffickin­g in the drugs.

24 additional months were later added to his jail sentence after he failed to pay the fine or the costs of the case.

The drug trafficker had some success with the courts in 2015, having filed a judicial protest, claiming that his belongings had been stolen from him upon his admission to prison, eventually being awarded €1,500 in compensati­on for this by the Small Claims Tribunal.

But he was subsequent­ly jailed again in 2019, fined €5,000 and declared an illegal immigrant after attacking and biting prison warders after he was informed that he would be deported to Nigeria at the end of his sentence. Feilazoo had wanted to be deported to Spain where he had been legally residing before coming to Malta, but his papers had expired and the Spanish authoritie­s are refusing to renew them.

Feilazoo was later released from prison after serving his sentences and placed in immigratio­n detention pending his repatriati­on to Nigeria.

He is claiming that his being held in immigratio­n detention is unlawful and in breach of his human rights since there were no prospects of his deportatio­n.

The most dishearten­ing thing, Feilazoo said, was that he was expecting to be a free man after his release from prison, only to find himself detained indefinite­ly at Ħal Safi as he had no status in Malta.

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