A court has decided there is enough evidence to indict 19 Somali migrants for their role in an uprising at Ta' Kandja open centre on July 8.

They stand accused of slightly injuring policemen and Detention Services officers and causing wilful damage to property amounting to €2,500.

Magistrate Saviour Demicoli heard that the migrants had assaulted staff and showered them with everything they could lay their hands on. Officers were pelted with eggs, metal bars, hot water and expired milk.

The disturbance started after the migrants were refused permission to speak to the camp commander as a group.

Joseph Micallef, a security guard at the open centre, testified that at about 9.30 a.m. a small group of migrants discussed with the whole Somali community there the possibility of speaking to Col Brian Gatt.

Col Gatt said he would only see three at a time and, on hearing this, the migrants got hold of whatever they found and started throwing them at the officers.

A police officer was hit in the eye with an egg, he said. Over €2,500 in damage had been caused. The migrants also started fighting among themselves because there were a few who wanted to calm the situation down, the officer said.

The accused are aged between 18 and 40.

Police Inspector Joseph Hersey prosecuted.

Lawyer Alex Sciberras appeared for the migrants.