Man involved in disposal of murder victim's body demands release pending trial

A man facing charges over his involvement in the disposal of the body of Eleanor Mangion Walker, allegedly murdered by her husband a year ago, is still in custody six months after his arrest. A person must be released pending trial unless the state can show justification for continued detention," argued defence lawyer Giannella DeMarco, when making submissions on bail requested on behalf of Kristian Zekic. The man is facing charges of having procured and making use of a false passport. During today's sitting, the defence pointed out that no sittings had been held since March 28 and meanwhile her client has remained in custody. Moreover, each fresh request for bail was met with a “standard reply” declaring that bail was being denied “for the reasons mentioned by the Attorney General in his reply.” The accused had a right to know the reasons for the refusal of bail, the lawyer argued. It was also pointed out that even the European Court of Human Rights favoured the release of a person pending trial so long as his continued detention was not proved to be justified. Not only have no reasons for refusal been given, but even the hearing of the last bail application has taken too...