Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1503554
2 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 12 JULY 2023 2 MATTHEW AGIUS A Paceville restaurant part- owned by Mohammed El- mushraty, the Libyan boxer charged with money laundering, tax evasion and participation in organised crime, has been evict- ed from the premises for breach- ing its lease conditions. This emerged from a decision by the Rent Regulation Board last week, against Elmushraty's Tunisian-born business part- ner. The defendant's name can- not be published due to a court order in the criminal proceed- ings against Elmushraty, in which the man had testified to having been pressured to per- jure himself in those criminal proceedings by associates of the Libyan. The man had told the court that he had lived in Malta for 25 years, working as a trav- el agent before taking over a Paceville restaurant as part of the Hugos group. Elmushra- ty was his business partner in the restaurant, with both men owning a 50% stake in the busi- ness. The outlet's commercial li- cence had been issued in the man's name and so had the 5 year lease, he had said, also tes- tifying to having written to the landlord in 2020 in a bid to re- move himself as a party to the lease agreement - something he said he was unable to do because of a clause in the con- tract. In the judgement handed down by Magistrate Joseph Gatt, the RRB noted that the landlord had requested the dissolution of the lease due to a breach of contract in June 2022- the premises had been leased as a restaurant but was being used as a nightclub, caus- ing a nuisance to the neigh- bours. The defendant had also fallen behind on rent and util- ities payments, said the land- lord, who claimed to be owed €127,148.34 at the time. The case had originally been assigned to another magistrate, who was later promoted to judge, before being assigned to Magistrate Gatt in March this year. When the case resumed be- fore the new magistrate on July 7, the defendant failed to ap- pear and did not file a defence. The Board noted that the pro- ceedings before the RRB were special summary proceedings, which required certain for- malities to be followed. "The defendant's failure to show up and inform the Board that he had a defence was fatal to the action and bound the Board with the decision that must be given…" "In circumstances like these it is good to remind that he who sleeps on the rights afforded to him by law, cannot then find protection from it," observed the Board, directing that the tenant be evicted within 21 days, and ordering the case to continue with regards to the claimed arrears. Court orders eviction of Paceville Restaurant part-owned by 'Lilu King' over contract breach Paceville restaurant part-owned by Mohammed Elmushraty, the Libyan boxer charged with money laundering, tax evasion and participation in organised crime, evicted from the premises for breaching its lease conditions Mohammed Elmushraty Lilu King MATTHEW AGIUS A man is being held in preventive custo- dy after denying charges relating to the attempted rape of his partner. A 37-year-old construction worker from Żejtun, whose name cannot be published, was arraigned before magis- trate Donatella Frendo Dimech earlier today, accused of the attempted rape of the woman, committing non-consensual sexual acts with her, holding her against her will, subjecting her to unwanted sex- ual behaviour, inflicting bodily harm as a means to commit those offences and causing her to fear that he would be vio- lent towards her. The man is believed to have tried to suffocate the alleged victim, when she resisted his attempt to rape her. The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges. The court imposed a ban on the publi- cation of the names of both the alleged victim and the defendant, at the request of the prosecution and parte civile, to avoid secondary victimisation of the vic- tim or their young children. Lawyers Etienne Borg Ferranti and Dominic Micallef, assisting the defend- ant, requested bail for their client. Borg Ferrante pointed out that the man had no prior convictions and still needed to go to work to maintain his children. Lawyer Cynthia Tomasuolo, repre- senting the Office of the Attorney Gen- eral, objected to the request, telling the court that the incident took place in the presence of the couple's young children, stressing the risk that the defendant could attempt to tamper with evidence if granted bail at this stage. The court, in view of the gravity of the charges, as well as the very early stage of proceedings, where the victim and chil- dren were yet to testify, denied the re- quest for bail. "There is a strong potential for tam- pering with evidence, and taken togeth- er with the fact that the punishments contemplated are substantial periods of imprisonment, which increase the risk of the defendant attempting to abscond to avoid these consequences," ruled the magistrate. A protection order was also issued at the prosecution's request, in favour of the alleged victim and her family. Lawyer Marita Pace Dimech represent- ed the alleged victims as parte civile. magius@mediatoday.com.mt Man charged with attempted rape of his partner A 37-year-old man is being held in preventive custody after denying charges relating to the attempted rape of his partner