Family of Gozo murder victim awaiting jury trial 8 years on
‘The wound cannot heal, we cannot achieve closure,’ says victim’s wife
The family of an Egyptian man murdered in Gozo over eight years ago fear justice may never be served as they continue to wait for a jury trial date.
Walid Salah Abdel Motaleb Mohamed, a father of two, was found dead with two shotgun wounds in a remote field in Għarb in January 2018. Although a bill of indictment was issued against the accused, a Serbian national, in November 2022, a trial date has still not been set.
Speaking on condition of anonymity to protect her children’s identity, Walid’s partner expressed the deep emotional toll the prolonged legal process is taking on their family.
“We feel we cannot achieve closure,” she said. “It feels like the wound can’t heal, and we know it must be opened again during the trial for it to be one day closed.”
The couple’s two daughters were just eight and six when their father was killed. Today, at 16 and 14, they are old enough to understand the situation and are questioning the lack of progress.
“They are asking what happened and why justice hasn’t been done yet,” their mother said, adding that the uncertainty is beginning to affect them.
The family’s grief is compounded by the fact that they do not have a local grave to visit, as Walid’s body was repatriated to Egypt for burial, so achieving any sort of closure is harder.
The mother also says their anxiety has been heightened by the release of the alleged killer on bail. He was granted bail in 2024 after spending over three years in preventive custody.
“The children are not comfortable with knowing that the alleged killer is out on bail,” the partner said.
“And the more time passes, the more I worry that justice might not be served after all.”
The delay in Walid’s case reflects broader bottlenecks within the judicial system. Figures provided to parliament by the Justice Ministry last October revealed that there were over 250 pending jury trials before the courts.
While around 200 of those are blocked waiting for other legal outcomes, Walid’s case faces no such legal impediment to being scheduled.
And the frustration over these systemic delays is shared by other victims. Last month, former police officer Simon Schembri, who lost an arm after being run over in the line of duty eight years ago, shared his own heartbreak after the court informed him that it could not set a date for his trial because the judiciary is simply too busy.