A Syrian man who was allegedly abducted by compatriots has told a court that he was warned that he would be raped and the footage posted on Facebook unless he left Malta.

Another victim was warned he would have a large dose of cocaine injected into him unless he complied.   

The harrowing accounts were given during the compilation of evidence against five men who allegedly carried out the abductions over the past few months.

Syrian nationals Alhasan Abdulrahman, 36, Ghyas Dahrouj, 47, Dahrouj Safi, 30 and Hassan Ahmed, 27, together with Tripoli-born Fadel Abdulsalam Ahmed Mohamed, 39, were arrested following investigations by the counter-terrorism unit and have been under preventive custody since pleading not guilty during their arraignment last month.

One of the alleged victims told the court that his abduction took place in September, barely two months after he arrived in Malta.

One of the accused had approached him at Marsascala, asking, “where are you from?”

When he replied that he came from the Syrian city of Idlib, the accused, identified as Ahmed in court, pushed him to the ground and threatened to inject him with 20 grams of cocaine unless he left Malta.

A couple of days later, Ahmed and Abdulrahman turned up at his home in Zabbar, asking him to go with them for a coffee.

When he hesitated, they ordered him to get into their Range Rover, promising they meant no harm.

But rather than sticking to their original offer, the men drove him to Marsascala where they warned him that he had better book a flight out of Malta at once.

“I feared them,” the witness said, adding that he knew someone else who had left Malta after being threatened by the accused.

He had, in fact, booked a flight but instead of leaving Malta, he had moved to Bugibba.

Yet, two weeks later, he was beaten up by two Libyan men who were allegedly acting upon instructions by the accused.

“They want no one from our hometown here. It’s got to do with the war in Syria,” the witness said.

The other alleged victim, a 20-year old Syrian national, said he had been forcibly taken away from his workplace in Birkirkara one January afternoon by four of the accused.

The victim identified Abdulrahman as the man who had allegedly lured him out of the workplace towards a nearby car where the accused’s uncle was supposed to be waiting.

But the car turned out to be empty.

The youth said he was forced to get inside, seated at the back between two of the accused, while Abdulrahman drove to Marsascala. While in the car he was asked about the killing of certain relatives that had allegedly taken place in his Syrian hometown back in 2012.

The youth said he had no recollection of those events, explaining to his abductors that he had been too young at the time.

He said that when they got to Marsascala, the car was driven to an isolated spot, close to some cliffs.

Sensing danger, he refused to get out of the vehicle but was then pulled out, the men having grabbed him by his hands and hair.

His unsuccessfully tried to alert a nearby jogger and the abductors then threatened to throw him off the cliffs.

They told him they had (Maltese) citizenship and could do what they liked, the witness said.

They also warned him that unless he left Malta, he would be raped by 'the Libyan man' and the footage would be posted on Facebook.

The young man said that a few hours later, during a detour to Ghyas’s house at Safi, he managed to escape. He flagged down a passing car and got a ride to a bus stop near the airport.

After hearing both testimonies the court, presided over by Magistrate Joseph Mifsud, declared that there was sufficient evidence for the accused to be placed under a bill of indictment.

The court turned down a fresh request for bail, citing as reasons the security of the witnesses, the fear of absconding as well as the security of Malta.

“Conflicts in other countries must not be brought over to Malta by persons granted residence on humanitarian grounds. All those living here must abide by rule of law principles,” Magistrate Mifsud declared.

Inspectors Omar Zammit and Geoffrey Cutajar prosecuted.

Lawyers Kris Busietta, Lennox Vella and Amanda Spiteri Grech were defence counsel