Two men were accused in court on Monday of having set fire to an apartment in Qawra.

Mohamed Ali Ahmed Elmusraty, 33, a Tunisian businessman living at Swieqi and Mahmoud Mustafa Aldebah, a 23-year old Libyan also living at Swieqi, were arraigned under arrest and charged with the arson attack that allegedly took place last Friday at around 8am.
They both pleaded not guilty to having wilfully set fire to the apartment in Triq l-Isponoz.

Mr Elmusraty was separately charged with recidivism.

Prosecuting Police Inspector Joseph Mercieca said the two were arrested on the basis of CCTV footage.

The prosecution objected to bail, observing that one of the accused had allegedly been involved in a Paceville scuffle with security guards in 2006 after being denied entry to a club. A bouncer had recalled in court how a sword-wielding aggressor narrowly missed splitting his head in two with the tip of the blade scraping against a lighter in his pocket, causing it to explode. 

Defence lawyer Franco Debono argued that the footage only showed the duo entering and leaving the block. “We do not know what actually happened inside the apartment.”

Moreover, an inquiry had been held and the two men had already released their statement to the police, said Dr Debono, arguing that therefore, the evidence had been preserved and that the prosecution’s fears were not justified.

However, in view of the gravity of the offence and the fact that civilian witnesses were still to testify, the court, presided over by magistrate Ian Farrugia, turned down the request and remanded both men in custody.
Lawyer Amadeus Cachia was also defence counsel.