A Georgian man who has been given a 13-month jail term, claimed yesterday that because he has been under preventive custody for 19 months, he should have been released from the Corradino Correctional Facility. Vladislav sive Lado Mironich, 29, was found guilty of stealing a laptop and two mobile phones, holding three people against their will, insulting them and receiving stolen goods. He was cleared of attempted extortion and being in possession of a knife without a police licence. In an application filed in the magistrates’ court yesterday, the Georgian claimed that he has been under preventive custody for the last 19 months, but on his return to prison after the judgement was handed down on Monday, “he was not released”, even though he served a longer term in prison than the punishment inflicted. He claimed he was advised that he could not be released since he had filed an appeal. “This amounts to an illegal arrest,” he alleged in his application. The writ was signed by lawyer Joe Brincat. The Georgian was found guilty along with a man from Uzbekistan, Dmitriy Makhmoudov, 22, who was given a 14-month jail term. The case dates back to 13 December 2008, when the defendants met other men to settle some debt that a certain Frey Farruh had with Mr Mironich. The incident took place at about 10pm in Bahar ic-Caghaq, behind the Splash and Fun Park.