Court finds grounds for indictment of bump key gang

A court of magistrates has this morning decreed that it has seen sufficient evidence to indict five Eastern Europeans on charges relating to conspiracy to commit a crime, participating in organised crime, forming part of a criminal organisation and receiving stolen goods.

Kartlos Dolaberidze, 41, from Georgia, Kryzsztof Tadeusz Latocha, 30, from Poland, Algirdas Sliogeris, 48, from Lithuania, Adilet Shakirgazieva, 28, from Kyrgyzstan and Mate Oniani, 25, from Georgia - all pleaded not guilty during their arraignment on the 11 September and have been remanded in custody ever since.

Two officers described conducting CCTV and plainclothes surveillance operations in the Qawra area after a spate of similar burglaries in the area. During the course of their investigations, one person spoken to had given a description that tallied with that seen on CCTV and directed the police to the apartment block where the arrests were made.

Lawyer Joseph Mizzi, defending the five, argued that Oniani and Shakirgazieva should not have been made to face the same charges as the other three. He pointed out that CCTV and witnesses had consistently told the same story involving three men.

Shakirgazieva was being linked to the organised crime gang simply because she shared a flat with them and Oniani had just arrived in Malta the day before, making him unable to have been part of the planning process.

Magistrate Josette Demicoli, however denied this request, holding that after taking into account the evidence it has seen so far, there was sufficient prima facie evidence to place all the persons accused under a bill of indictment.