A youth, who allegedly took to social media to insult and threaten a woman and her family, was granted bail after pleading not guilty upon his arraignment on Monday afternoon.
The allegations dated to May when Bulgarian-national Kristiyan Slavchev Dakov, 26, a self-employed construction worker living at Birkirkara, posted a series of insults and threats against the woman and her father.
Prosecuting inspector Andy Rotin explained that the posts were initially uploaded on Instagram on May 19. Others followed in the following days, sparking an arrest warrant against the suspect.
But when police proceeded to execute that warrant, they discovered that the man was abroad.
Therefore, a second warrant was requested.
That warrant was executed on Monday and the suspect was arrested at his residence, explained the inspector.
The man was charged with using violence, including moral and/or psychological violence, against the woman and her father, causing them to fear violence, threatening the commission of a crime, misuse of electronic communications equipment, and insulting and threatening them as well as disobeying lawful orders.
He pleaded not guilty.
Defence lawyers, Maurice Meli and Maronia Magri, requested bail, arguing that the accused had been living in Malta for 15 years and had a fixed address at the residence where he lived with his mother.
As for the risk of tampering, strict bail conditions could adequately counter that.
The prosecution relied upon the court’s decision, requesting protection for the alleged victims and bail conditions that would adequately restrict the accused.
In light of such submissions the court, presided over by magistrate Leonard Caruana, granted bail against a deposit of €1,500, a personal guarantee of €5,000, daily signing of the bail book and under a curfew between 9pm and 6am.
He was also strictly warned not to approach the alleged victims, not to communicate with them in any way and to avoid using social media in such a way as to breach that restriction.
The court also issued a Protection Order in favour of the alleged victims.
Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Jacob Magri appeared parte civile.