Lassane Cisse murder case: Surgeon testifies on migrant wounded in 2019 drive-by shooting

A medical consultant is to testify as to whether a Gambian man shot by off-duty soldiers had suffered any permanent health issues as a result of the shooting.
 
Consultant surgeon Mark Portelli, who had operated on Ibrahim Bah, testified before Magistrate Ian Farrugia this morning as the case against former AFM gunners Lorin Scicluna and Francesco Fenech continued.

Bah had been shot, allegedly by the off-duty soldiers, in a drive-by shooting in Birzebbugia which also claimed the life of Lassana Cisse Souleymane, an Ivorian national, in April 2019.
 
Scicluna and Fenech stand charged with Cisse’s racially-motivated murder.

They are also accused of seriously injuring two other migrants, Ibrahim Bah from Guinea and Mohammed Jallow from Gambia. 

Over the course of his testimony, Portelli told the court that Bah, from Gambia, had been admitted to the emergency department on 7 April 2019 and was found to have suffered a single gunshot wound to the left buttock. A full body CT scan was carried out, which showed there was an entry wound in the left buttock, and that the projectile had pushed air into the surrounding tissues.

Bah had been referred to Portelli’s care after the CT scan. The witness confirmed that there were no head, thoracic or spinal injuries. The wound had been cleaned under anaesthetic and follow-ups were carried out by the consultant’s team.
 
Presiding Magistrate Ian Farrugia inquired as to whether the injury had caused permanent health repercussions on the victim. The consultant said he would have to refer to the victim’s medical records for the results of his regular check-ups. He is expected to be summoned to testify again after obtaining this information.
 
Scicluna and Fenech had been arraigned in May 2019 and released on bail 7 months later against a deposit of €30,000 and a personal guarantee of €20,000.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Kris Busietta are representing Scicluna, while lawyers Giannella de Marco and Stephen Tonna Lowell are representing Fenech.