A woman whose boyfriend stands accused of trying to import deadly substances through the dark web has ended up in court herself, charged with forging a rent document so that her boyfriend could be granted bail. 

Marzia Marimar Calleja Maatouk, 20, from Sliema, pleaded not guilty to falsifying the document in and before May. She also denied breaching the bail conditions of a separate case she is facing. 

Calleja Maatouk appeared before Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras on Monday.

The prosecution vehemently opposed a request for bail but defence lawyers Franco Debono and Kathleen Grima insisted that the alleged crime happened in May and if their client wanted to approach witnesses, she had had five months to do it. 

The court granted her bail against an €800 deposit and a €5,000 personal guarantee, as well as a number of other conditions.  

Her boyfriend, Jomic Calleja, a 34-year old Żebbuġ resident, is currently facing court proceedings over an alleged attempt to buy explosives and a lethal poison from the United States, via a seller on the dark web.

The dark web is a part of the internet that is only accessible using specialised software and which is not indexed by search engines. 

Calleja was arrested in March after anti-terrorist unit police received a tip-off by foreign security services that a Malta-based person had tried to buy Polonium-210, Ricin and Fentaynl on the dark web.

Jomic Calleja, who stands accused to trying to buy explosives online.

Intercepted communications between the seller and buyer, dating back to June 2019, revealed plans for the radioactive material to be administered in lethal doses to a person weighing between 55 and 65 kilos and 165-175 centimetres tall. The intended victim has not yet been identified. 

Calleja allegedly sought to buy five doses of the deadly Polonium-210, which when administered through food or drink would kill the targeted victim within two weeks.

Polonium-210 is a highly radioactive material and a deadly poison that gained notoriety as the substance that was used to kill former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London back in 2006.