A magistrates court judgment yesterday has implied that the khat plant is illegal locally after the court decreed that though the plant is not restricted by law, its amphetamine-like contents, cathine and cathinone, “most definitely are”.

The court’s opinion was expressed as it found Somali-born Londoner Aweys Maani Khayre guilty of importing and possessing cathine and cathinone under circumstances denoting they were not intended for his personal use.

Khayre, 32, was arrested at Malta International Airport on the night of 9 May, 2008 after disembarking from an inbound flight. He was carrying 14 kilogrammes of khat leaves in a suitcase.

According to a website quoted by the court, presided by Magistrate Miriam Hayman, “khat plant has been used since antiquity as a recreational and religious drug by natives of Eastern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and throughout the Middle East.” Fresh khat leaves are chewed like tobacco.

Khayre had admitted that he bought the plant in the UK, where it is legal, and brought it to Malta to use it with his friends in his birthday celebrations.

The chewing of khat has grown in popularity among the East African communities residing in Malta, however, Magistrate Hayman commented that the “influx of peoples from different cultures in our island does not and should not mean the acceptance of extraneous traditions especially ones with serious illegal implications”.

Khayre’s legal representatives, José Herrera and Veronique Dalli, argued that he had imported an unrestricted plant, so he should not be found guilty of doing something which was not a crime at law. Furthermore, they argued that their client did not have the intention to commit a crime.

The court described the argument that the accused had no intention to commit a crime “is lame at best”. It recalled how Khayre refuted ownership of the suitcase containing the plant and that it was wrapped in banana leaves in order to preserve both illegal psychoactive ingredients.

Furthermore it decreed that though khat was not restricted like marijuana, its natural constituents, cathine and cathinone, “most definitely are” and that these “cannot co-exist without the plant (since in this case it was not man made). Logically then, this does not and cannot legalise its presence.”

Magistrate Hayman jailed Khayre for six months and fined him e466, the minimum penalties for drug trafficking.

The defence counsel confirmed with this newspaper that it will appeal the judgment.

Police Inspectors Pierre Grech and Dennis Theuma prosecuted.