One of Malta’s top criminal lawyers, Joe Giglio, will be representing the family of Lassana Cisse, a man killed in cold blood in a drive-by shooting that was allegedly racially motivated.

Two soldiers charged with Cisse’s murder are out on bail.

They are also being accused of the attempted murder of another two men and a hit-and-run.

Luke Frendo, who is organising a fundraiser that collected more than €5,000 in 24 hours in aid of Cisse’s family told Times of Malta that Giglio offered his services to represent the family of Lassana pro bono.

Frendo initially kick-started the fund-raiser - aiming to collect €10,000 - to fund legal representation for Cisse, who was shot dead in Birżebbuġa on April 6 of 2019.

“Cisse was killed for no reason other than that he was born black. I was disappointed at the inadequate vocal response, from people in general, at this act of racial violence. The alleged perpetrators hired top lawyers. Cisse too should have top legal representation,” he told Times of Malta. 

Frendo was among those who on Monday called for justice for Cisse during a sit-in in Valletta held also in solidarity with anti-racism protests in the US and the world.

“The world is up in arms about the equally brutal murder of George Floyd in the United States, but the local community needs to make its voice heard about a racial murder that happened in our backyard,” Frendo added.

Since Giglio offered his services, Frendo decided to send the money to Cisse’s family instead.

The murdered man had fled to Europe to earn a living and support his family in Ivory Coast, but this was no longer possible.

The donated funds range in amount, and include small but significant ones from students, Frendo said.

His fundraiser also aims at sending a message to the world, to the black community in Malta and Cisse’s family that racial violence is unacceptable and does not represent the values of the Maltese community. 

You can help out by donating here.