Two more bouncers have admitted being involved in the New Year's Eve assault of a man in Paceville and were fined €100 after the victim forgave them in open court. 

Aleksandar Kovacic, 27, and Ivan Marjanovic, 42, both from Serbia and living in Msida, were charged with assaulting without injuring Ahmed Adam Idriss Albarjo and wilful breach of public peace.

They are among five security guards to be charged in connection with the attack on Idriss Albarjo.

Video footage showing the victim being kicked, beaten and hit with a retractable baton on New Year's Eve shocked the country when it was published by Lovin Malta last week.

 

They were charged under summons at the St Julian’s district sitting on Thursday before Magistrate Ian Farrugia. 

The other bouncers, Riald Gragjevi, 21, and Ryan Zammit, 26, who was working without a licence, face the more serious charges of causing the victim grievous bodily harm and have pleaded not guilty.

The victim was separately charged with slightly injuring one of his aggressors and also denies the charges.

Public apology

When the case was called on Thursday, both bouncers registered an admission after the victim appeared in court and publicly forgave the two men.

The bouncers also registered a public apology. 

In light of that admission, the court declared them guilty and condemned them to payment of a €100 fine each, €50 for each contravention.

A fifth bouncer, Peter Bajic, had two additional charges to his sheet, namely for running violently in an open space with the risk of running into and injuring others, as well as working as a security guard without being duly licenced.  He pleaded not guilty and his case continues.

Bouncers testify in case against colleague

Minutes after that hearing, the bouncers moved to the upper floors of the law courts to attend another sitting against a colleague who was also involved in the Paceville brawl.

Ryan Zammit, who was charged under arrest and remanded in custody, was escorted back to court for the first hearing of his case before Magistrate Nadine Lia. 

Kovacic was summoned as the first witness, taking the stand after his lawyer, Shazoo Ghaznavi, explained that proceedings against him had just been wrapped up and that there was to be no appeal. 

Assisted by an interpreter, Kovacic recalled how on New Year’s Eve he got an urgent call through his headphones from his fellow securities at the entrance to Havana club. 

“Outside! Outside! We have a big problem. Come outside!”

He went out and stepped in when he saw a “Black man” attacking his colleagues. The “Black man attacked a guy with a bottle and kept hitting him with the broken bottle. He pierced him on the shoulders.”

The injured man was his Albanian colleague, Riald Gragjevi.

Asked for further details, Kovacic explained that there were many people at the time and he did not manage to see all the details. 

But he was there when the brawl started. 

It was a “physical fight” and he had intervened to help his colleagues. 

“The Black man was threatening to kill us all, shouting, then he started attacking the Albanian guy. As far as I could see, Riald was the first to be attacked.” 

“The Black man was talking to the police and recording everything, then came back,” added the witness. 

When he first stepped outside the club, he saw the man running and “they were chasing each other.” 

“The rest is on video footage.” 

 Since four or five colleagues saw to the case, Kovacic went back to his “business” inside the club.

The next witness was the victim, his left forearm plastered, and assisted by lawyer Roberta Bonello. 

Since criminal proceedings against him are still pending, the magistrate explained to him that he was being cautioned and had a right to opt not to testify. 

After being given time to consult his lawyer, Albarjo returned to the stand and said that he did not wish to testify at this stage.

Peter Bajic, the fifth bouncer, was produced as a witness in Zammit’s case but was advised not to testify on Thursday as he was advised not to testify today. 

Zammit’s lawyer, Herman Mula, pointed out that the prosecution needed to produce footage related to the incident before the court could decree whether there was sufficient prima facie evidence for the accused to stand trial on indictment.

Magistrate Lia deferred Zammit’s case to next week for more prosecution witnesses and evidence. 

AG lawyers Etienne Savona and Giuliana Magro Conti together with Inspector Brian Xuereb prosecuted.

Lawyers Shazoo Ghaznavi and Jessica Formosa assisted four of the bouncers. Lawyer Herman Mula assisted Zammit.