The victim of an alleged kidnapping appears to have taken a one-way trip out of Malta days after being tied to a tree and threatened with violence during an overnight ordeal.

This information emerged when proceedings resumed in court against Slovak Peter Tupta, 49, Anton Triscik, 47 and Adam Mazurkovic, 22, who are currently under police custody over their alleged involvement in the abduction of their 30-year-old fellow national. 

During the first hearing in the compilation of evidence last week, the prosecution had informed the court that the alleged victim was proving difficult to trace, since the address he had supplied appeared to be false and he was not answering their calls. 

When the case resumed on Thursday, prosecuting inspector Jessica Bezzina confirmed that police had been unable to contact the man who appears to have purchased a one-way ticket for an outbound catamaran trip.

His three alleged kidnappers have pleaded not guilty to holding him against his will, using violence against him and slightly injuring him in their attempt to extort money. 

The violent incident appears to have stemmed from a pending debt which the alleged victim had with Triscik.

A number of police officers took the witness stand on Thursday, testifying about the man’s own account of the abduction and the events leading to the arrest of the suspect trio. 

On January 27, the men had approached their victim in Mellieħa and Mazurkovic had allegedly grabbed his hands while the other two removed all his personal belongings. 

After being forced into a car and taken to a campsite at l-Aħrax tat-Tunnara, he was allegedly stripped of his clothes, tied to a tree with cables and threatened at knifepoint to disclose his Revolut password.

He would face serious consequences unless he paid, the man’s abductors had allegedly threatened, while one of the men, Tupta, grabbed the victim’s private parts with gloved hands. 

Later that night, the men drove their victim to Sliema, allegedly holding him against his will at the hotel where they were staying. 

The following day, the trio, together with their victim, headed to a notarial office, planning to get him to sign a constitution of debt agreement. 

That was when the man had finally managed to give them the slip, running into a nearby coffee shop for help. 

A call from the police control room at around 3pm had brought officers rushing to the Sliema outlet where they came across the alleged victim, sitting on the kitchen floor, begging for help.
As police accompanied the visibly shaken man outside, he pointed in the direction of three strangers, claiming that they were the ones who had allegedly stolen his personal belongings. 

The man was scared and in a state of shock, officers testified.

A personal search of the three suspects had subsequently yielded items belonging to the victim. 

As the round of testimonies came to an end, the court, presided over by magistrate Audrey Demicoli, declared that there was sufficient evidence for all three accused to be placed under a bill of indictment. 

The men’s lawyers then made submissions for bail, pointing out that once the alleged victim was no longer in Malta, the accused could not be kept under arrest pending his return, indefinitely. 

Moreover, testimonies showed that the accused had not attempted to escape on the day of their arrest, but had obeyed orders to wait for the police, the lawyers argued.

However, after taking note of objections by the prosecution, the court turned down the request and remanded the accused in custody.

The case continues. 

Inspectors Jessica Bezzina, Ryan M. Vella and Joseph Busuttil are prosecuting. Lawyers Stefano Filletti and Stephen Tonna Lowell are defence counsel. 

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