Club security staff say they hadn't seen Lilu King bar fight

Three bouncers and a ticket attendant who were called to testify against notorious Libyan boxer Mohamed Ali Ahmed Elmushraty in proceedings relating to an alleged assault at a Sliema beach club in May this year, that left a man grievously injured, were unable to shed any light on the incident.

Elmushraty stands accused of having grievously injured another man during a fight at Medasia Playa in Sliema and breaching previous bail conditions imposed on him in 2019 in connection with yet another case. He is denying the charges, claiming to have acted in self-defence.

The 31-year-old, who had been granted bail on his arraignment in the assault case, nevertheless remains in preventive custody due to separate criminal proceedings relating to money laundering centering around his unexplained wealth, had previously been jailed in 2018 for attacking and wounding a Paceville bouncer with a samurai sword.

Perhaps coincidentally, none of the three bouncers called to testify today said that they had witnessed the fight.

The first to testify was Dejan Vasinkovich, from Slovenia, who told the court he worked as a security guard at Medasia Playa. Inspector Shamus Woods, prosecuting, asked him about the alleged assault.

“I wasn’t involved in the incident,” he replied. “When it happened, I was on the door at the entrance. When I came into the room, the fight was already over. Management told me to take one of the guys [involved in the fight] and escort the guy out.” Asked whether he recognised anyone in the courtroom today, Vasinkovich said he didn’t know.

“There were a lot of people. A commotion. I didn’t see any injuries. The guy looked confused, but I didn’t see any injuries,” he said, adding that it was his boss who had indicated who he was to escort out of the premises.

“He doesn’t know anything,” remarked Elmushraty’s defence lawyer, Franco Debono.

Presiding Magistrate Joe Mifsud asked Inspector Woods whether the rest of his witnesses “would be like this.” 

“He gave a very different account in his statement,” replied the Inspector. Why the witness was not therefore confronted in court today with what he had said in his statement is unclear.

Next to testify was Marko Mikhailovic, a Serbian national who also worked as a bouncer at Medasia Playa also told the court that he had been working on the door at the time.

“At the moment of the incident I was on the door speaking on my phone. I got a call on the radio and I went inside but didn’t see any fight,” Mikhailovic said.

Today’s third witness was Uros Timovski, also from Serbia. Timovski had also been working at the entrance, he said.

He said he could not remember anything about the incident. “I was outside, on the door. I didn’t see anything with my own eyes. There were two people, we took one out.” He hadn’t seen any injured people, he said.

Fourth to testify today was Nicola Pavic, from Serbia. Asked what he remembered about the incident, he too, had not seen anything.

“I was working on the door checking tickets. There was a fight and I went inside to see what it was about and was told to go back outside because the door was unattended.”

“So, everyone was working on the door?” remarked Inspector Woods. Pavic also told the court that he did not know who had been working inside the club at the time.

“You have a radio so you should know what is going on inside,” replied the inspector.

The witness repeated that he had first been called inside to help deal with the fight and was then sent outside again to cover the door.

“How many people were involved in the fight?” asked the inspector. “A lot,” replied the witness, who also told the court that he was unsure as to whether he remembered seeing any injured patrons. “It was a long time ago.”

The case continues in December.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb are appearing for Elmushraty.