The Maltese police are to issue a European Arrest Warrant for Jomic Calleja Maatouk, who went missing after appealing a court conviction.

Police believe that Calleja Maatouk and his partner, Marzia Miramar Maatouk, may have left Malta by private boat to evade justice.

Both were given effective prison sentences last month in separate cases but were not jailed because of the appeal they filed. Prison sentences given by magistrates are postponed if an appeal is filed. As a result, Calleja Maatouk was also released from police custody.

The police have not issued a wanted notice for the pair but Marzia’s brother, Marvin Zammit, posted an appeal on Facebook asking people for information on his sister.

He said her mobile phone had been switched off since Wednesday 16 August and on Thursday she did not turn up for work. Commenting on his post, the brother said the last known location of Marzia’s phone was Mosta and the couple left behind eight dogs at home.

Jomic Calleja Maatouk had been found guilty of attempting to import C4 explosive that he had purchased on the dark web. The package was intercepted by American law enforcement agents.

Calleja Maatouk had also breached bail conditions.

Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech sentenced him to five years in jail, describing Calleja Maatouk as a dangerous person.

Meanwhile, last month, Marzia Miramar Maatouk was handed down a 15-month effective jail term in a separate case after she was found guilty of possessing more than 300g of cannabis. The street value of the drug was estimated to be more than €6,000.