Two demand compensation for extra time spent in jail

Two migrants who were held on remand for almost six years because they could not afford bail and who were subsequently sentenced to a four-year jail term have filed a court application demanding compensation for the extra months they spent in prison. Omar Osman Omar and Anwar Otman Hasan had been found not guilty of rape but guilty of violent indecent assault and holding a woman against her will. In their proceedings against the Attorney General today, they said they were held in remand throughout the six years of the court proceedings except for a period of just over a month during with Mr Osman was allowed bail. When they were eventually convicted they had already served out the term plus an extra two-and-a-half years in prison because of undue delays in the proceedings. They said that the actual trial only lasted four days and the six year period was therefore unreasonable and violated their human rights to a fair hearing within a reasonable time. The application was filed by lawyers Roberto Montalto and Kris Scicluna.