The lawyers of Kristjan Zekic, who has been charged with hiding the body of Eleanor Mangion Walker and with the armed robbery of an Armier boathouse, have requested a constitutional referral for the accused's bail hearing.
Gianella De Marco and Stephen Tonna Lowell, told a magisterial court that was presided over the Magistrate Aaron Bugeja, that Zekic has been held under arrest for three months without any hearings, after the AG ruled that Zekic could not be released on bail as his identity could not be ascertained after it was discovered that he held a Slovenian ID card and passport from Uzbekistan in the name of Adhamjon Niyazov.
"If the accused in under arrest, he is meant to be brought to court every two weeks. He has applied for bail various times. The last application was on
"Four weeks for a decision is too long, bail applications are by they very nature, urgent."
De Marco said that the accused has each time been given a standard reply by the court, referencing the AGs initial reply.
This, the lawyers claim, goes against a number of EU judgements which say that when there is a departure for the rule of individual liberty, which in this case in the negation of bail, the reasons should be set out in their decision on the application for release.
"He has claimed not guilty, and the proceedings have been dragging on for 6 months."
"The AG says that the true identity is unknown, however they claim to know the real identity of the individual, Adhamjon Niyazov. They are uncertain of one identity or the other, it is not unknown."
Turning to the AG's reasoning that the bail refusal would serve public interest, the lawyer said it was "ridiculous" and criticised his decision for not taking into the gravity of the offence, but rather the abstract.
De Marco claimed that the AG did not state in his objection, that no court sittings have occurred for 3 months and 15 days ( 10 April till 24 July).
She also said that the AG also made no reference when objecting out of fear that the accused may abscond, that he has lived in Malta for 8 years, has a wife an children, has worked year.
The next sitting will be on Monday 21 August; the decree on the decision will take place before, but no date was provided.
The prosecution was represented by Inspector Keith Arnaud.