Club owner in court over ‘topless’ dancer

The owner of a “gentlemen’s club” in the heart of Sliema, and a couple running the show, have been charged with allowing the premises to be used for immoral acts.

The trio were charged after the police caught one of the dancers in Paradiso club performing topless last Thursday.

The owner, Paul Attard, 58, from St Julians together with Andra Togoi, 28, and Gary Camilleri, both from Sta Venera, pleaded not guilty to running a brothel and allowing the club to be used for immoral acts.

During the arraignment, Mr Attard, Mr Camilleri and Ms Togoi were granted bail against a personal guarantee of €7,000 each.

The dancer was charged with indecent exposure in a separate arraignment.

This is second time that police have taken action against a club after a dancer was caught topless. The first involved a woman at a Paceville establishment in October.

However, last February the Constitutional Court, presided over by Mr Justice Joseph R. Micallef, ruled that the fundamental human rights of people charged in connection with the case had been violated as the law did not define immoral acts.

The wording of the law meant that any investigation into the men’s guilt or innocence would almost wholly depend on the subjective opinion of the presiding judge.

In yesterday’s case, Lawyers Shazoo Ghaznavi and Robert Galea appeared for the couple while lawyers Giannella de Marco and Gianluca Caruana Curran appeared for Mr Attard.