Crime
Man caught with 65 capsules of cocaine, heroin in Malta refuses deportation to Nigeria, wants Spain instead
An ex-convict hoping to leave Malta after serving a sentence for drug trafficking says he has found himself in legal limbo after refusing to be deported back to his native Nigeria, insisting on being sent to Spain instead.
To stop his deportation, Joseph Feilazoo has petitioned the European Court of Human Rights, claiming that his human rights were being infringed upon by Malta.
Amongst other things, Feilazoo complained of “excessive use of force by correctional officers, against whom he had proceedings pending, as a result of which he was charged with crimes he did not commit, as opposed to being treated as a victim, following a failure to protect him.”
His story begins in August 2008 when he had originally been arrested at the airport upon arriving on a ClickAir flight from Spain with 65 capsules containing 912g of cocaine, 25g of heroin and almost 6g of cannabis, hidden in his stomach and rectum.
Feilazoo had been convicted of drug trafficking by a jury in 2010, being jailed for 12 years and fined €50,000 for conspiring to import, importing and trafficking in the drugs.
24 additional months were later added to his jail sentence after he failed to pay the fine or the costs of the case.
The drug trafficker had some success with the courts in 2015, having filed a judicial protest, claiming that his belongings had been stolen from him upon his admission to prison, eventually being awarded €1,500 in compensation for this by the Small Claims Tribunal.
But he was subsequently jailed again in 2019, fined €5,000 and declared an illegal immigrant after attacking and biting prison warders after he was informed that he would be deported to Nigeria at the end of his sentence.
Feilazoo had wanted to be deported to Spain where he had been legally residing before coming to Malta, but his papers had expired and the Spanish authorities are refusing to renew them.
Feilazoo was later released from prison after serving his sentences and placed in immigration detention pending his repatriation to Nigeria. Legal sources say that this has now been stalled by his petition to the ECHR.
He is claiming that his being held in immigration detention is unlawful and in breach of his human rights since there were no prospects of his deportation.
The most disheartening thing, Feilazoo said, was that he was expecting to be a free man after his release from prison, only to find himself detained indefinitely at Hal Safi as he had no status in Malta.
-
News17 hours ago
Tinubu appoints new chairman for code of conduct bureau
-
News18 hours ago
Nationwide blackout imminent as national grid collapses
-
featured16 hours ago
Song lyrics are now simpler, angrier, more self-obsessed – Study
-
Entertainment18 hours ago
Why I became transgender – Bobrisky
-
News18 hours ago
Easter: IGP assures police commitment to public safety
-
News7 hours ago
Lagos postpones Easter boat race
-
Entertainment3 hours ago
50 Cent’s ex- girlfriend accuses him of sexually assault, rape
-
News5 hours ago
Speaker Abbas, Deputy Barau, Buhari celebrate Tinubu’s 72nd birthday