Man caught up in Paceville NYE fracas claims police tasered and beat him

An Italian man says he will file a legal claim for damages against the Police, alleging that he was brutally beaten up by them in Paceville during a law enforcement operation, following a large-scale brawl on New Year’s Eve.

The man, who asked not to be named, said he nearly lost sight in one eye as a result of the arrest. He was later released without charge.

The case has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Board, a police spokesperson said.

He had been driving out of St Julian’s in a car when it was stopped, he said. The video appears to show that the man had drawn the ire of the officers by attempting to drive on, despite having been stopped.

“Police approached me… at least 8 police officers, pointing guns at us. They broke the window on the passenger side and opened the door, dragging my friend out.”

The officers started beating his friend on the side of the road, he said.

A video of the chaotic scene had gone viral earlier this month, showing the silver car being stopped and swarmed by police officers, the rattle of tasers going off, clearly audible. “Then a police officer got inside the car and started kicking me to push me out… while he was kicking me, I was tasered twice in the neck.”

He claims he was dragged out of the car by “3 or 4” officers who, he says, punched and kicked him.

“These are killers, not police,” he told the MaltaToday. “While I was on the floor, they put something like a scarf over my face and I couldn’t see.”

He said they pushed his head on to the road. “They told me I was under arrest. I told them I needed to sit up but they dragged me, handcuffed, into a police car.” The man was then taken to the police station in St Julian’s, but no charges have been pressed to date, as yet.

The man said he was so shaken by the incident that he was having trouble sleeping and now wanted to leave Malta. “It is no longer safe,” he explained. “I loved Malta, but no more. I even had a Malta tattoo, but I will have to remove it now,” said the man.

Referring to photographs of his injuries, which show his swollen and bruised face, he said ‘look, I nearly lost my eye.’

The man’s lawyers, Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia, have filed a judicial letter calling upon the Commissioner of Police to accept responsibility for the incident and pay compensation to the man.