Afriqiyah hijack | Pilot chose Malta: 'We're taught not to give hijackers exactly what they want'

The compilation of evidence against the men accused of hijacking a Libya-bound airliner in the days before Christmas, continued this afternoon before magistrate Anthony Vella.



Moussa Shah Soko, 27, and Ali Ahmed Saleh, 28, both of Sebha, Libya, are charged with hijacking the Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A320 on 23 December, together with a host of other charges related to terrorism.

Increasingly muted armed security heralded the arrival of the hijackers for their court appearance.

An Afriqiyah Airways air hostess testified. She had been working on the Afriqiyah Airways flight from Sebha to Tripoli, which had ended up in Malta. “After about 20 minutes on the air, a person who had been seated in the back moved to the front. I asked him why he had come to the front, because usually it is business class who sit in the front. He started to say that he needed to talk to the pilot,” she said.

He said that he had something that he wanted to show to the pilot and gave the hostess a paper on which it was written that the aircraft had been hijacked. “He pulled up his shirt and I could see what looked like a small bomb.”

At that point, the flight had another 30 minutes to arrival, she said.

The letter to the pilot instructed the pilot to fly to Rome and threatened to destroy the aircraft if he failed to comply. “I told him 'OK, calm down' and took him to the front. I did my best not to show the passengers that anything was wrong.”

As the air hostess led the hijacker to the front of the aircraft she had seen him making a sign to another passenger, who had been seated.


The bomb had a red cover and had a wire coming out of it, she said. “That's all I saw.”

“I tried to talk to him calmly.” At no time did she speak to the Captain, she said. In such cases, the air hostess' role was to maintain calm.

Magistrate Anthony Vella asked how the aircraft ended up in Malta instead of Rome. “The pilot had said that he couldn't go to Rome and offered to return to Tripoli to pick up fuel.” The pilot had chosen Malta as it was nearby. It was the co-pilot who had informed Moussa that the plane would be landing in Malta, she said.

None of the hijackers were allowed into the cockpit, said the air hostess and the passengers had been unaware of the emergency. They were informed only after the aircraft had landed in Malta.

In the courtroom, the witness pointed out the accused Salah as the man with the bomb and Soko as the seated accomplice.

Afriqiyah Airways pilot Ali Muhammad also took the witness stand this afternoon. The veteran pilot, who said he has been flying for over 30 years testified to the flight beginning "the same way as any other."

“When we reached 33,000 feet, the chief officer came to the cockpit and said 'bad news’. He handed me a paper which read: ‘We want to go to Rome or we will blow up the plane.'

He had sent his co-pilot to investigate and was told that the hijacker was holding a bomb.

“He suggested we fly past Tripoli, over the sea and return to Tripoli, but I feared they would see the coastline from the windows and figure out what we were doing.”

He recalled that he had discussed the option of disarming the man with the co-pilot and chief officer but eventually dismissed the idea. “We decided to fly to Malta [not Rome, as requested]. We are taught not to give exactly what is being demanded when hijacked.”

We had asked for permission to bring the plane down near Misrata but we were not allowed by the authorities there, so we agreed on Malta...”

The pilots had agreed not to tell the passengers what was going on, but claim that landing in Libya was not possible due to inclement weather. “We didn't want to worry the passengers.”

After landing, they had turned off the engines and parked the aircraft in the area designated by the airport authorities.

“I sent my assistant and chief officer to speak to Moussa. The passengers disembarked. I spoke with the airport authorities who told me that we could unload the passengers.

“They said they were going to send a staircase to the door but not to do anything at first, later being told to let the passengers down in four groups.

“We had checked whether our air hostesses could disembark with the passengers and were granted permission.”

His co-pilot and chief officer had assisted in the negotiations with the hostage takers, he said. 

“I told the Maltese authorities that they didn't look very dangerous, or like they belonged to ISIS, but that they appeared to not want to live in Libya anymore.”

The hijacker had produced something that looked like a bomb, said the pilot. He had asked how the hijacker had smuggled it onto the plane. “He said he had his friends.”

When the order came for the hijackers to leave the aircraft with their hands up, Moussa initially refused, said the witness.

“He said 'I am the leader of a party, I'm not going outside with my hands above my head,' but later he decided to put the party interests first and complied.”

Defence's objections to AG's presence dismissed as frivolous

Lawyer Joseph Ellis once again formally objected to the presence of representatives from the Office of the Attorney General who were assisting the prosecuting official. “This behaviour is prejudicing his right to a fair hearing before an impartial tribunal as enshrined in the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. “The role of the AG in the phase of compilation of evidence is to examine the acts and decide on whether to issue a Bill of indictment against the accused not to actively participate in the prosecution. This behaviour of the AG is prejudicing the 'equality of arms' which are essential in these proceedings.”

Ellis requested that the Court refer the issue to the First Hall of the Civil Court in its Constitutional jurisdiction to examine whether the fundamental rights of the accused are being violated by the participation of the Attorney General in these proceedings.

AG countered, describing the request as “frivolous and vexatious” and arguing that the AG had a role in the compilation of evidence which was not precluded from appearing in these proceedings. “It is precisely the AG who manages the prosecution's witnesses. Above all, it is inconceivable as to how the presence of the AG could breach the right to a fair hearing, particularly the equality of arms.”

Ellis insisted that the AG's role “was not to come here and whisper in the prosecutor's ear.” The AG's role is quasi-judicial in deciding whether to issue a indictment. "If he participates directly his serenity in taking this decision would be compromised."

Galea Farrugia replied. “If I had enough manpower, I would have a lawyer assisting every case.”

The court dismissed the request, after hearing submissions on the matter and declared it frivolous and vexatious. He ordered the case to continue.



Lawyer Joseph Ellis is appearing for Soko.

Lawyer Patrick Valentino is representing Saleh.



Police Inspectors Omar Zammit and George Cremona are prosecuting, assisted by deputy Attorney General.