Lewis Muscat, a man who resides in Malta appealed from a Court decision which ordered his extradition to the United States of America (US) on charges of defilement of minors. The man had resided in the US for around 40 years. Earlier this year US authorities demanded the extradition of the 56-year-old man so he could be trialed for child abuse.
However, Lewis Muscat, originally from Ħamrun, appealed from the decision stating that the charges pressed against him are not included in the terms of extradition as prescribed by the Maltese law.
The appeal adds that abusive acts on underage children, possession and control of pornography and distributing indecent material through electronic mail, Internet and telephone do not constitute a case for extradition.
According to Section 5 Chapter 276 of the Maltese Constitution, an extradition can be carried out in cases of rape with violence, kidnapping, unconsummated rape and violent attacks.
Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna who presided over Lewis Muscat’s case had stated that prosecution documents sent from the US included allegations made by Muscat’s own daughter, Connie Muscat. Additionally, another daughter of Muscat’s, called Lewis Barker, alleged that she and her brother James were also abused by their father.
The Federal Court of California is charging the man with child defilement in a series of other cases, including one of a girl who alleged that she endured his abuse for over three years.
With regards to this latter case, the appeal states that Lewis Muscat carried out the acts while in a disturbed frame of mind. The appeal further says that the Court is not competent to decide in what sort of frame of mind he was when the acts were carried out, adding that the European Human Rights Court declares that a person cannot be extradited to another country if the concerned person is at risk of being tortured of treated in an inhumane way.
Lewis Muscat who attempted to take his own life and received treatment for mental problems numerous times, stated that his extradition could lead him to another suicide attempt. The appeal furthermore points out that Lewis Muscat suffers from a number of physical ailments.
The prosecution is being led by Lawyer Donatella Frendo Dimech, with the assistance of Inspectors Noel Cutajar u Raymond Aquilina.
See also:
US demands extradition of a Maltese man
By MaltaMedia News
Mar 2, 2006, 18:00 CET
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