The Court of Magistrates yesterday ruled against a submission made by Norman Lowell, in which he claimed a breach of criminal procedure.

Mr Lowell, 49, from Attard, is facing three separate charges of inciting racial hatred on 3 April 2006 in Rabat, on 8 May 2006 in Qawra and through the publishing of an article entitled Coming Cataclysmic Crisis between 3 December 2003 and 27 May 2006.

He is also facing a charge of gesticulating or using words that insult the Maltese presidency.

In his submission, made by lawyer Emmy Bezzina, Mr Lowell said that there was a breach of criminal procedure due to the fact that four separate charges for four alleged separate offences were grouped into one. He said that as a result, the charges should have been declared null and void.

However, in a 17-page decree, presiding Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera opined differently. The court said that after going through all the relevant articles of law, it was satisfied that the summons with which Mr Lowell was charged, and subsequently all charges contained therein, satisfied article 360(2) of the Criminal Code – the article which the accused had claimed to have been breached. The submission was therefore disposed of and the court ordered the resumption of proceedings against the accused.

Police Superintendent Peter Paul Zammit and inspectors George Cremona and Angelo Caruana make up the prosecution team while Dr Emmy Bezzina is appearing for the accused.