“Moral values” made a magistrate decide that the case against three Chinese women charged with running a brothel at a massage parlour be heard behind closed doors.

Liu Renhua, 42, Yu Yali, 43, and Qin Weihong, 42, all of Attard, are pleading not guilty to running Honey Girls in Balzan as a brothel.

A day before their arraignment last week, Lin Han, 32, also from Attard, pleaded not guilty to the same charge and to living off the earnings of prostitution.

A 53-year-old Tarxien man, whose name cannot be divulged by court order, is also facing similar charges.

Police Inspector Louise Calleja yesterday asked for the case to be heard behind closed doors on moral grounds.

She made the request on emerging from Magistrate Saviour Demicoli’s chambers together with defence lawyers Andy Ellul and Vince Micallef.

The accused, who are being held in preventive custody and had their second bail application denied yesterday, sat huddled together in the dock as a Chinese woman tried to speak to them but was stopped by officers escorting them.