Bully’s 35 year prison sentence confirmed

Emanuel Camilleri known as ‘Leli l-Bully’ has lost a Constitutional appeal he filed against the sentence given to him in 2005 in connection with the case of the bomb placed outside the house of Assistant Commissioner Michel Cassar in 1994. Camilleri had already appealed against the sentence twice and lost both of them.

In 2005 Camilleri had been found guilty of putting a bomb outside the house of Cassar on the night between 22 and 23 May 1994. At the time Cassar was an inspector in charge of the Drug Squad. Camilleri had been sent to prison for 35 years and fined €116,500.

The Court of Appeal confirmed the sentence in 2010 but Camilleri insisted he was innocent and filed another appeal case. He said his fundamental human rights were being broken.

Camilleri said a lot of weight had been given to the testimony of Marco Abdilla who had died before the trial by jury and so could not be cross-examined by Camilleri’s defence lawyer. Abdilla had also given contradictory statements but had been believed.

The court had rejected Camilleri’s case. The court said it does not review the merits of the case but just scrutinizes the judicial process to ensure that it was fair.

The Constitutional Court said that the fact that Abdilla died before eh could testify in the trial by jury does not invalidate his testimony. The court said that the defence lawyer had all the opportunity to cross-examine Abdilla in the compilation stage but chose not to. The prosecution had every right to read Abdilla’s testimony in court during the trial by jury.

The Constitutional Court said that the jury had every opportunity to hear what the prosecution and the defence lawyers had to say in this case. The court said that Camilleri’s rights were respected and the different charges he was faced with where all part of the same case.