“Yes, we made a mistake, but we are not that stupid. And what happened did not happen as described by the Maltese authorities.””

Back home in Lecce, after their brief brush with the law in Malta, Matteo Clementi, 26 from Galatina, and Enrica Apollonio, 23 from Aradeo, have been speaking to the Italian press, including Quotidiano di Puglia.

They refuse to accept being portrayed as stupid. And they are very angry at the treatment they received in Malta.

“They took us to the lock-up: I was barefoot,” says Matteo. “At least they gave Erica a blanket, while they gave me nothing. The window in the room was always open and nobody told us anything. They did not allow us to speak with anybody. We were disoriented and did not understand what was happening.”

The two had reached the airport late for the Wednesday 12.25pm flight to Bari. They asked the ground crew to call the captain and allow them to board.

“The plane was right there on the apron. It is not true it was taking off. After refusing to allow us to embark, the airport employees laughed at us and went off. There was nobody at the gate, so security at all. The door which allowed access to the apron still had the key in it. So we opened it and rushed on to the apron towards the still parked plane. At that point, no one told us anything. However, we stayed out of the danger zone around the plane. I waved to attract the pilot’s attention. He saw us and caused the door to be opened to allow us to get on board but at that point the police came and arrested us.”

That is when the saga began. They were taken to the police station inside the airport and Matteo managed to call home before they took away his mobile phone. Enrica managed to speak to her mother after many pleas to the police officers. Then, nothing: they were separated and taken to the lock-up. It seemed everybody had forgotten about them. “We had a total black-out for 24 hours. We could not get any calls and were treated like criminals.”

At that point, they did not know they were being charged with terrorism. Meanwhile something was moving. From Italy, lawyer Carlo Gervasi got in touch with the lawyer chosen by the Italian embassy in Malta, Roberto Montalto. Together, they drew up a defence strategy that at the end delivered a lighter sentence: a maxi fine of €2,329 which they can pay in instalments.

“But the arraignment itself was terrible. We did have an interpreter but he could not understand much. Everybody spoke in Maltese; it seemed they were making fun of us. Then the sentence and we sighed with relief. We understood it was over and we could go back to Italy.”

Back in Italy, apart from being embraced by their relatives, they were inundated by expressions of solidarity by many who contacted them on Facebook. There has even been a fan club created in their honour. And Enrica is said to have been contacted by Endemol and offered a chance to take part in the next Grande Fratello.

MIA reaction

In a statement issued last week, MIA said:

"MIA would like to clarify that the passengers in question breached one of the emergency fire doors located in the Departures Area of the Terminal in order to access the apron, and not a security door. The mechanism of the Fire Emergency doors, includes a magnet which is specifically designed to release when it is forced open in case of a fire.

It is also important to note that passengers in the Departures area have already been screened for any security threats when passing through the Central Security Screening Point and hence such an incident cannot be considered to pose any security breach since passengers have already accessed the highest level of security at the airport (even though they are still within the terminal building). This incident is considered to be more of a Safety breach in fact.

The actions of the Italian couple were beyond the airport's control and did not result from any negligence on behalf of MIA security staff. MIA staff and partners responded to this situation immediately and effectively, ensuring that the passengers were apprehended and passed on to the police. MIA regrets that a holiday to Malta had to end in this way but reminds passengers that safety and security are of the utmost importance at any airport and such issues cannot be dealt with lightly."