BERNARD BUSUTTIL

Three Maltese stevedores who were held in Sicily by the police suspecting them of smuggling merchandise to Malta wrote to Foreign Minister Michael Frendo in order to probe into the incident.

The letter was also sent on behalf of the 38 open market hawkers who owned the merchandise.

On Thursday Raymond Borg, Raymond Cini and Ivan Hallett were stopped by the Guardia di Finanza, an Italian military police force under the authority of the Economy and Finance Minister, as they were on their way to Malta to deliver the wares to the hawkers who had previously bought them from Sicily.

The merchandise they were transporting was sequestrated by the Guardia di Finanza who suspected the Maltese stevedores of smuggling. The stevedores held that the suspicions were unfounded as the police also confiscated the documentation relating to the wares, including VAT receipts and invoices.

The stevedores complained that the police did not stop the other Italian stevedores who were transporting the same wares to Malta. They held that some hawkers had there merchandise transported both by the Maltese and Italian stevedores, however only the Italian made the journey. The Maltese stevedores accused the Italian police of discriminating against them in favour of the Italian stevedores.

The hawkers appealed to Minister Frendo to urgently probe into the incident, as their investments and life savings are confiscated in Sicily.

Lawyers Roberto Montalto and José Herrera signed the letter.