Four young unemployed men were today arraigned over their alleged role in a series of reported incidents in Buġibba last summer after weeks of investigation led the police to the identification of the culprits.
Al Khadur Fadi, 26, Najar Ghyas, 20, Al Maaloul Abdulkhader, 19 and Alghazi Abdallah, 19, all born in Syria and residing at St Paul's Bay, stood sheepishly side by side alongside their Arabic interpreter, as the court was informed of the circumstances leading to their arraignment under summons.
Last July 3 at around 10.30pm, a group of some 10 foreign nationals, believed to be Syrians, were allegedly harassing a female customer seated at an outlet at the Buġibba Square. They were trying to remove the woman's chair.
A third party intervened, ordering the gang to stop. However, rather than take heed of the warning, the offenders turned upon him. In the ensuing scuffle, the man landed a grievous injury when he was allegedly hit by a glass.
Officers at the Qawra police station had received other reports of incidents which broke out on that same evening at the Buġibba square wherein the same four were allegedly involved.
A man reported that he had been enjoying coffee with his wife when the group began to play ball to the annoyance of patrons in the vicinity. When he asked the men to move away, they allegedly turned upon him causing him slight injury.
A pregnant woman who had also been a customer at one of the outlets on the square, had reported that a young Syrian man had scrambled under their table. When her husband ordered him off, a group of fellow nationals had allegedly turned up. However, the group suddenly dispersed upon catching sight of a gang of Libyans who arrived at the scene.
A sergeant from the Qawra police station explained in court that investigators had acted upon information received by the victims and other third parties. This led to the identification of three of the alleged culprits who were found to reside in the vicinity of the local police station.
The fourth man was identified quite some time later by means of a photo on Facebook which one of the victims had brought to the attention of the police.
The court, presided over by Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, before putting off the case to next Monday, imposed upon each of the men a personal guarantee of €2,000 and ordered them to sign the bail book at the Qawra police station once a week every Saturday.
Before leaving the courtroom, all four were warned by the magistrate of the consequences they risked facing if they failed to turn up for their hearings. “You will forfeit €2,000 each and if you cannot pay, you risk ending up in jail,” the magistrate remarked.
“Next time don't forget your tie,” was the magistrate’s final word of warning, after having earlier on in the sitting severely told off three of the men for failing to appear in court appropriately dressed. They had an open collar. Only one of them wore a bow tie.
Inspector Maurice Curmi prosecuted.