The man facing criminal proceedings for having allegedly helped hide the body of Eleanor Mangion Walker after her murder in Swieqi on July 3, was today charged separately with having falsified official documents.

Kristjan Zekic, 34, Russian-born and bearing a Slovenian passport, was in court today for the continuation of the compilation of evidence about the murder.

He stands accused of having helped Andrew Mangion, the estranged husband and prime suspect in the murder, to hide the victim's body in a warehouse in Qormi.

Before Magistrate Ian Farrugia, the prosecution explained how uncertainty regarding the real identity of the accused had arisen when police discovered that he had a Slovenian ID card and a passport from Uzbekistan in the name of Adhamjon Niyazov.

Drugs squad police inspector Gabriel Micallef testified that an Uzbek passport in the name of Niyazov, bearing a picture of the accused, had been seized from the accused's apartment. During questioning, the accused had denied knowledge of the passport which bore his photo, insisting that he was Kristjian Zekic with Slovenian ID card.

The witness explained that police experts had concluded that the passport was false whereas the ID card was genuine. However, this conclusion was reversed by Interpol who pronounced the ID card to be "completely false". 

Shortly after the sitting, the accused was arraigned before Magistrate Anthony Vella and accused of having falsified immigration documents and knowingly made use of such documents.

He pleaded not guilty but no request for bail was made.  

Inspectors Keith Arnaud and Kylie Borg prosecuted.

Lawyer Giannella DeMarco was defence counsel.

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