I’ve asked legal advice and reflected a lot about Wednesday’s Court decision to annul the charges against DF Advocates. The charges were canceled because according to the defense lawyer Franco Debono, DF Advocates is not a registered company or an incorporated entity and thus can not be charged.
This decision is bizarre, irregular and it absolutely doesn’t make sense. There are many problems with this decision.
Firstly, why is Franco Debono being believed on a prima facie basis? Did anyone verify whether DF Advocates are actually registered somewhere else in another country? Why is the Magistrate believing Franco Debono? For God’s sake, he is a criminal lawyer and therefore a professional liar. How and why wasn’t there any police investigator who could confirm this allegation?
Secondly, even if DF Advocates is not a registered or an incorporated entity, it doesn’t mean that it can not be charged. I can also testify from my own experience on this. When I published the student rag “Ir-Realta'”, the rag was not registered anywhere, yet I was still charged as its editor. Just because the rag was not registered, it did not give me impunity from the law.
There is something deeply wrong with this decision and I am very suspicious of it. Constitutionally, it also doesn’t make any sense and I am sure the prosecutors have many ways to address this abnormality.
So far, having followed the case closely with my friends, prosecutors are doing a very good job, and even Prosecutor Francesco Refalo, whom I previously criticized, seems to be on fire. I congratulate him and I hope he keeps up his work in this manner.
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