Rape victim in Lilu King, Jordan Azzopardi case 'offered money to shut up'

A man who was beaten and sexually assaulted told police he was offered money after Jordan Azzopardi, known as "El Chapo ta’ Malta”, Mohamed Ali Ahmed Elmushraty, known as Lilu King, and two other men were charged in court over the alleged attack.

“I don’t want to take any money they are offering me… I am scared they will come after my girlfriend and me, mostly,” the victim wrote in an email to Police Inspector Wayne Bugahiar on May 5.

In the email, which was read out in court after the victim said he did not wish to testify, he also said his relatives in Libya and his employers were concerned about their safety.

The inspector said he advised the victim to speak to a lawyer but no one from the legal aid office has contacted him so far.

After hearing how the victim did not want to testify and the content of the email, the magistrate then ordered that the victim be represented by a legal aid lawyer and that Victim Support contact him.

“In light of the content of the email… the court invites the prosecution to further investigate the alleged approaching of the victim directly or indirectly,” the magistrate ruled.

The inspector read out the email before Magistrate Lara Lanfranco, who is presiding over the compilation of evidence of four men who are charged in connection with the unlawful detention and assault on the victim.

He was allegedly lured to a San Ġwann butcher shop, tied up with cable ties, beaten unconscious, robbed, threatened with a knife and sexually assaulted with objects while being filmed on April 21.

The four men charged in connection with the alleged assault are Azzopardi, 36, Abdulmomen Abudagil, 23; Elmushraty, 34 and Noureddin Amer Miloud Almahmoudi, 39, a shop worker.

Azzopardi and Abudagil are charged with sexual assault, theft, unlawful detention, bodily harm, taking sexual footage or photos without consent, violent coercion, extortion, misuse of electronic equipment and causing the victim to fear that violence would be used against him.

Azzopardi alone is also accused of attempted homicide and breaching several bail conditions.

Elmushraty and Almahmoudi were later charged with complicity in several of the same crimes, including unlawful detention, assault, robbery and rape. All four deny the charges.

Earlier, the victim was brought in to testify via video conferencing while his alleged aggressors watched him on a screen inside the courtroom. 

'I don’t want to talk about this'

He started by saying he did not wish to testify.  

“If I had to be completely honest, this last month for me was very difficult. I lost friends. I lost many relatives. My best friends were like family. It was very difficult for me to sleep. And right now I do not really want to talk about this,” he said.

The magistrate explained to him that it was very important that he, as the victim, said what happened to him to ensure justice was served.

“We know the background of the case, but we need to hear from you, even though I understand this must have been a difficult experience,” Lanfranco said.

He replied:  “It is very easy for you to ask me to do this, but mentally… I experienced many traumas since childhood, and, after this case, talking about it impacts me very negatively. I do not want to be part of this anymore.

"I want to go back to my life and forget everything.”

When asked by the magistrate if he remembered speaking to the police and speaking to people about what happened to him when he was in hospital, he said he did.

When asked if what he said was true, he chose not to reply. He also did not want to reply when asked if someone had approached him.

At that point, the magistrate returned to the courtroom and heard Inspector Buhagiar read the email.

The defence and the prosecution then approached the bench and quietly discussed the way forward with the magistrate before she returned to the inner room where the victim was still waiting.

On her return, she ordered that a lawyer be appointed to assist the victim, who will testify in another sitting, with the assistance of a lawyer. 

Tied, beaten and raped 

In a previous sitting, Inspector James Turner, from the St Julian’s police station, told the court that on April 21, at around 7.45pm, he was informed by sergeants from the St Julian’s and Sliema police stations that a foreign man had turned up at the Sliema station in a very bad state around half an hour earlier.

The man was in pain, sat on the floor and eventually collapsed, prompting police to call an ambulance.

After police established his identity, he told officers he had gone to a butcher shop in San Ġwann, where he had met Abudagil, a person linked to a former relationship, before being beaten, robbed and sexually assaulted.

The alleged victim identified his aggressors as Abudagil, described in court as the son of the shop owner, and Azzopardi.

Turner said he later spoke to the alleged victim in the hospital. 

Turner testified that the alleged assault appeared to have stemmed from a relationship of around six years between the victim and a female family member of Abudagil.

The relationship, the court heard, had also been intimate.

The inspector said the woman feared that details of the relationship could emerge and affect her future prospects.

Around 15 days before the alleged assault, the victim said he had been contacted by Abudagil, who wanted to confront him “face to face, man to man” over his intentions towards the family member.

The victim said the original plan had been to meet at a cafeteria, but Abudagil later changed the meeting place and told him to go to the shop in San Ġwann instead.

When the victim arrived at around 5pm, he was greeted and offered a seat.

He told police he then saw Almahmoudi leave the shop, turn the shop sign and leave the area.

At that point, the victim said, he felt something was wrong.

The victim said Abudagil then placed him in a headlock and took him down to the basement. There, he found another man dressed in black, wearing black gloves and with his face covered.

That man allegedly began beating him. The victim said he lost consciousness and, when he came to, found that his hands had been tied with cable ties, some of his clothes had been removed, and his trousers were torn.

The victim said Azzopardi demanded €5,000 from him, warning that he would otherwise kill him.

Azzopardi allegedly grabbed a knife and tried to stab him, but Abudagil stopped him from stabbing the victim in the chest.

When Azzopardi allegedly returned from smoking a cigarette, he placed a cigarette in the victim’s mouth. 

Abudagil also allegedly placed a knife to the victim’s throat and asked him for money, and later put a knife to his wrist, cutting him slightly.

The alleged physical abuse continued when the men produced two sex toys, the court heard.

The victim said he was forced to put the objects in his mouth and anus while being filmed.

While filming him, they allegedly ordered him to say that he enjoyed what was being done to him. When the men realised he was not doing what they wanted, they allegedly inserted the objects themselves, including into his mouth and anus.

The victim said he was warned not to go to the police, otherwise the men would go after his family.

He also alleged that the attackers mentioned knowing Lilu King, saying he could kill him instantly.

After the alleged assault, the victim said, he was told to get dressed and was taken back upstairs.

The victim ran towards his friends, told them to drive and was taken to the police station. He was later taken to Mater Dei Hospital, where he was certified as having suffered serious injuries.

The prosecution is being led by Inspectors Wayne Buhagiar and James Turner, together with lawyers Jurgen Dalli, Darleen Grima and Danika Vella.

The accused are being represented by Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri, Herman Mula, Adreana Zammit, Matthew Xuereb, Jacob Magri and Arthur Azzopardi.