After failing to turn up for his attempted murder trial by jury on Monday, a court yesterday heard that the suspect, Syrian national Hachem Ali, left for Tripoli on an Air Malta plane using a false passport.

This information infuriated Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono, who deplored and strongly condemned the slack security systems being used at the airport as well as other entry and exit points around the country.

Mr Justice Galea Debono ordered that the authorities, including the police, the Prime Minister, the Justice Minister and Parliamentary Secretary within the Justice Ministry and the Foreign Minister look into the “seriously defective” system with which Hachem Ali managed to escape from Malta, avoiding justice.

Hachem Ali, who as one of his bail conditions had to sign the police bail book every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, left Malta on Saturday afternoon and flew to Tripoli, two days before his trial was due to start.

The accused was meant to appear in court on Monday and was expected to plead guilty to the attempted murder of Vincent Sammut on 27 February 2001 who he allegedly shot in the face during an argument over work. Mr Sammut suffered serious injuries to his face.

However, Ali did not turn up in court and Mr Justice Galea Debono ordered a nationwide manhunt for the suspect.

When the case continued yesterday, Mr Justice Galea Debono heard Immigration Officer Charles Vella explain that on Saturday morning, a Syrian man turned up at the immigration desk after passing through the normal check-in and presented a passport issued on the name of Ali Kaanan.

He said he used regular procedures and discovered that the system had not registered the man’s arrival in Malta. He said he also noticed that the passport did not have an entry stamp.

Mr Vella continued to explain that he asked the man how he had entered Malta and he replied that he had entered Malta illegally, without a visa and had managed to bypass the immigration channels at the airport.

He said he informed the immigration police about the passenger and handed him over for more investigations. Around 20 minutes later, the police went back with the passenger and informed him that it had been decided to allow him to fly to Tripoli.

Police constable Sandro Grech also took the witness stand and explained that on 26 May, he was working at the Immigration Police Station when he was approached by Mr Vella and informed about the suspicious Syrian passenger who did not have an entry stamp or visa on his passport.

The constable explained that he contacted the officer on duty at the Police Headquarters, PC Yvonne Farrugia, asking for more information on the man. He said she told him to fill in an immigration notice and allow the man to leave for Tripoli.

He said that when he saw a photograph of Hachem Ali published in the local newspapers, he immediately informed his superiors that the man had left for Tripoli on Saturday. However, when he was testifying yesterday, he said he was not so sure if it was the same person because the man who he said turned up at the airport was shorter than the person in the newspapers.

Police Superintendent Carmelo Bartolo told the court that following Monday’s sitting, the police embarked on a nationwide manhunt for the suspect. He said many people phoned the police but all the information did not lead to the suspect. He said that when PC Grech informed him that the man might have left Malta on Saturday, he compared the signature on the document signed before embarkation and those of the police and they were very similar.

Superintendent Bartolo said that he also saw the footage of the airport closed circuit television system and recognised the suspect, although his face was not really clear. The suspect’s brother said he received a call from his brother’s mobile phone on Saturday afternoon and a man told him that his brother had left Malta for Tripoli.

Upon hearing this evidence, Mr Galea Debono said it was clear that Hachem Ali had left Malta on a flight to Libya on Saturday afternoon. The judge said that unfortunately, when Immigration Officer Vella drew the attention of the immigration police officer stationed at the airport, who in turn informed the officer on duty at the headquarters WPC Yvonne Farrugia, she exercised her discretion “by remote control” without verifying anything on the case or about the true identity of this person.

“The court observes that this is a deplorable and condemnable system that allows for great abuse in the entry and exit of people who are not buona fide tourists who visit Malta for valid reasons, which made it very easy for the accused to leave Malta with a passport that did not bear his name and when he was awaiting trial on a serious crime,” the judge said.

Mr Justice Galea Debono ordered the Police Commissioner to continue with his efforts to find Mr Ali, even through international police agencies, to trace him and bring him before the court. He also ordered him to review the “seriously defective” systems that exist in the entry and exit of foreigners from the airport and other points of entry and exit in the country.

He also ordered that the ruling be communicated to the Justice and Home Affairs Minister, the Parliamentary Secretary within the Justice Ministry, the Foreign Affairs Minister and the Prime Minister, in order that they examine the security system to ensure

that such cases would not happen again.

He put off the case indefinitely until (and if) Hachem Ali is found and brought to justice.

Assistant Attorney General Anthony Barbara prosecuted while Dr Michael Sciriha and Dr Ian Farrugia appeared for Hachem Ali.