Lassana Cisse, the father-of-two who was killed in cold blood more than three years ago, has finally been laid to rest in his home country of Ivory Coast.

His remains were flown in by the Maltese government, with Cisse being bid a final farewell at a family funeral, on Saturday morning.

The funeral and wake were attended by his mother, four-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son.

Human rights activist Maria Pisani accompanied the remains to the Ivory Coast. Seen here with Lassana's cousin.

Human rights activist Maria Pisani accompanied the remains to the Ivory Coast together with a Foreign Affairs Ministry official.

Pisani told Times of Malta the repatriation of Cisse's remains brought some closure for the relatives: "after the brutality that marked the murder, the surviving relatives described the government-funded repatriation and the donations collected from the public to support the education of Lassana's children as 'an act of kindness'."

"Accompanying Lassana and showing compassion to his relatives won't bring him back and the family is forced to move on without him. However, our goodbye wasn't marked by anger or hatred, but with shared human understanding.

"I don't speak French and in the final few moments I didn't need to," she said.

Cisse's relatives hoped that those responsible for his death will be promptly held to account.

On Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg said the government stood in solidarity with Cisse's family.

He reiterated the government’s "commitment to ensuring communities are safe spaces for all". 

Lassana, 42, was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Ħal Far as he walked home on April 6, 2019. Two soldiers – Francesco Fenech and Lorin Scicluna – have been accused of his murder as well as the attempted murder of another two men and a hit-and-run incident that was exposed by Times of Malta.

All four victims were black.

The murder is believed to have been racially motivated.