A judge has rejected a request for bail for the man awaiting trial over the double murder that took place in Sliema in August 2020, ruling he did not offer enough guarantees to be released from custody.
Mr Justice Aaron Bugeja decided that Viktor Dragomanski, a 38-year-old who lives in Sliema, does not satisfy the conditions to be released from preventive arrest.
Viktor DragomanskiDragomanski and two other men − Daniel Muka, an Albanian, and Dane Jesper Kristiansen − are charged with the double murder of Christian Pandolfino and Ivor Maciejowski, who were shot dead inside their Sliema townhouse.
Dragomanski denies his involvement in the murder as well as other charges including theft, possession of an unlicensed firearm and theft of a car and two sets of number plates. If convicted, Dragomanski faces life imprisonment.
He had been identified through CCTV footage as one of people leaving the murder scene and was arrested following a dramatic rooftop chase in Gżira.
A man whose name was banned from publication told the court he was prepared to give Dragomanski a job and a place to live.
The judge quoted European Court of Human Rights case law, which stressed that the seriousness of the offence allegedly committed by the person charged is not, in itself, enough to justify long periods of preventive custody.
This criterion is considered within the parameters of the circumstances of this case, as well as the alleged risk of flight or absconding from Malta or of him going into hiding.
The court agreed with the arguments made by the Attorney General that Dragomanski presents a higher risk given that he has few ties to Malta.
The court said it was not convinced the accused was in a position to give sufficient guarantees that, if granted bail, he would strictly adhere to the conditions, appear whenever ordered by any court, not abscond or leave Malta, even by irregular means of transport, or commit any other criminal offence while awaiting trial.
Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb represented Dragomanski.