A taxi driver who took a customer to a petrol station and helped him purchase €10 worth of fuel which was later used in an arson attack that destroyed a Mercedes and a Citroen in Valletta.
The taxi driver took the witness stand on Monday in proceedings against Judith Bakoush, a 29-year old mother-of-three from Valletta who allegedly commissioned the arson and Omar Trabelsi, 30, one of the men who allegedly set the car on fire on that fateful November 9 night at St Dominic Street, Valletta.
Another man, Ateri Ahmed Al Furjani, a 45-year-old Tripoli-born migrant, residing at the Ħal Far Open Centre, was separately charged with complicity in the arson by having procured the fuel and helping to set the car on fire.
Francis Saliba recalled how he had answered a booking at 2.18am when he had been asked to drive a customer from St Joseph Street, Valletta to Blata l-Bajda.
The passenger, “not Maltese, a Libyan who spoke accented Maltese,” had got out of the taxi, a water bottle in hand, asking the driver to wait. Some five minutes later, the man returned, handing over his phone to the cab driver.
The person at the other end of the line instructed the driver to help the customer purchase some fuel “for an empty car tank”,” Mr Saliba explained, describing how he had got out of his cab and helped the passenger fill two empty containers with €10 worth of unleaded petrol.
The cab driver then drove back to St Joseph Street and dropped off his passenger there, getting paid for his fare by another dark-skinned man who came out of a nearby building.
Asked whether he recognized the man in court, the witness replied: “I’m not sure, but possibly it’s the one in the blue suit,” indicating Mr Trabelsi seated at the dock alongside Ms Bakoush.
An officer from the Valletta police station, Giancarlo Benetti, gave a detailed testimony of how investigators worked through CCTV and CVA footage to reconstruct the events of that November night between 2.18 am and 3.20am on the streets of the capital.
Policemen observed what was happening around Bakoush’s home, with the woman keeping a constant watch from her balcony.
Two men, allegedly Trabelsi and another person, were observed making their way to Republic Street, taking off their shoes and proceeding to the parking lot at St Dominic Street where the Mercedes was parked. A camera then caught Trabelsi as he ran out of the parking area, heading toward East Street.
The owner of the Mercedes testified that his car was written-off and that he had no issues with anyone. He had no idea who could have been behind the arson. The owner of another vehicle, a Citroen, testified that his car had been also written-off as a total loss as a result of the blaze.
At the end of the sitting, Magistrate Rachel Montebello upheld a request for bail against a €200 deposit and a €5,000 personal guarantee for Bakoush and a €700 deposit and a €7,000 personal guarantee for Trabelsi who was also placed under a temporary supervision order. They also have to sign the bail book daily.
The case continues in March.
Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri were counsel to Bakoush.
Lawyer Yanika Zammit Tabona was counsel to Trabelsi.