Ah, top criminal lawyer Franco, of course
Franco Debono is defending one of the soldiers who stand accused of the murder of Mamadou Kamara, 32. timesofmalta.com reports now:
In submissions for bail, Dr Franco Debono representing Cuschieri said the charge of voluntary homicide was excessive and in the worst case scenario it should be involuntary homicide.
He said this was not a case of one extreme to another since in the past there were more serious cases where officers shot at migrants and were not arraigned. He said one had to keep in mind the character of all involved. The accused were soldiers who had gone out to work.
They were family men while the accused had escaped for three years and had clashes with other people in detention.
Get out of politics, Franco. Please. Trying to follow your arguments, this is what I get:
1. family men don’t commit crimes or, at least, they should be exonerated because, well, they’re family men;
2. if you’re a migrant who escapes from detention, well, that means you deserve to die because it’s all your fault.
The fantasy world of Franco Debono, ace criminal lawyer and marvellous ministerial material.
12 Comments Comment
Reply to silvio Click here to cancel reply
What would Franco Debono know about family men anyway? He isn’t one himself – as far as the general public knows – and, well, all we’ve seen or heard of is his mother.
If a family man kills his family voluntarily it is voluntary homicide. A top criminal lawyer should know that being a family man is no defence. It might be a nice-sounding phrase but valueless nonetheless.
Debono is a criminal lawyer “fil-veru sens tal-kelma.
Daphne, ‘migrants’ are not kept in detention, but ILLEGAL immigrants are.
And what has that got to do with the price of eggs?
There is a clear conflict of interest for Franco Debono.
Detention services fall under the responsibility of the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister has already condemned this incident and ensured that this incident will be investigated. Franco Debono is a Parliamentary Assistant in the office of the Prime Minister. There are so many cases that Franco should refuse and this is definitely one of them.
This is the Dr Jekyll half of Dr Franco Debono perorating – not the Mr Hyde half.
“He said this was not a case of one extreme to another since in the past there were more serious cases where officers shot at migrants and were not arraigned”.
An excellent legal argument coming from Malta’s leading criminal lawyer who clearly advocates that it is quite acceptable to adopt the principle of ‘two wrongs make one right’.
I think it is not only unfair but indecent to comment and speculate on this unhappy incident.
The accused are deemed to be innocent until proven otherwise. We should all wait for all the evidence before commenting and judging these persons.
Why should as you say “Franco should refuse to defend them”. Do you mean that they should not have the right to have a lawyer?
I expect this incident to be turned in a political issue and if one or more of these accused happens to be a Labourite, we will be pointing our finger at Muscat for being a leader of a racist party.
I understand that this case is now sub judice, and this is meant to stop all speculation by the media and let justice take its course.
[Daphne – You’re wrong about that. The media and everyone else are free to discuss the case.]
If not, it would be a good idea to send some of our Cowboy journalists to a few months behind bars.
Franco Debono, the murdered man was a “family man” too, by your standards, at least:
“They described him as a popular, hard-working man who only some six months ago fathered a Maltese-Malian baby girl. They also spoke of a man racked with guilt about having escaped detention in 2009.” http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120702/local/-We-re-all-afraid-now-.426811
Sadly, on the same article link provided above, this just about sums up the general sentiment of Maltese people towards immigrants (except if they are fair-skinned and female, naturally):
“His voice hardened as he went on. “It sometimes seems as though the Maltese people find it easier to kill a migrant than a dog. They don’t see us as human beings.””
Silvio I never said that they do not have a right to be represented by a lawyer.
What I said is that Franco DEBONO as a Parliamentary Assistant in the office of the Prime Minister should have had the decency to refuse such a case.