Seven more arrests in Syria-linked case

A Maltese court was told that seven other individuals were arrested in the terrorism investigation that led to Daniel Spiteri being charged, widening a case that began after police were tipped off about his trip to Syria.

Newsbook reported the development from the compilation of evidence against Spiteri, where Inspector Zachary Zammit of the police counter-terrorism unit testified that the additional arrests were made in connection with the alleged offences. The report does not say whether those seven have been charged.

That matters. “Arrested” is an investigative step, not a conviction, and sometimes not even the start of a prosecution. But it does tell you this is no longer being presented in court as a single man with a notebook and a search history.

Spiteri was arraigned over four alleged terrorism-related offences: recruiting or encouraging another person to engage in terrorist activity, providing or receiving training intended for terrorist use, travelling for purposes connected with terrorism, and involvement in making or distributing material intended to encourage terrorist activity.

The investigation, the court heard, was launched in May after police received information that Spiteri had travelled to Syria. Newsbook reported that officers said they secured flight tickets and a taxi receipt from Lebanon to Syria as part of the evidence tied to that trip. Investigators believe he travelled to receive terrorism-related training. That remains the police case, not a finding by the court.

Zammit also testified about internet searches attributed to Spiteri, including videos of the radical Islamist preachers Ahmad Musa Jibril and Mizanur Rahman, also known as Abu Khaled and Abu Baraa, as well as ISIS-related music. When asked by police why he searched for the videos, Spiteri said he wanted to learn about different religions.

Police searches of notebooks allegedly linked to him also found bomb-making instructions and notes on how to recruit people, including advice to approach people who were desperate, according to the testimony reported by Newsbook.

Spiteri and various others were arrested on 27 October. He was arraigned three days later, after police sought an extension to the usual 48-hour detention period to continue investigating. Newsbook described that request as unusual. He has remained in preventive custody.

Magistrate Ann Marie Thake presided over the proceedings. Spiteri is represented by lawyers Ishmael Psaila and Amadeus Cachia.

For now, the clearest shift is procedural rather than rhetorical: the court has heard that the inquiry extends beyond the accused already before it. Whether that becomes a broader prosecution will depend on evidence the police have not yet fully laid out in public.