Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1517369
2 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 13 MARCH 2024 2 MATTHEW AGIUS magius@mediatoday.com.mt CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Weathering online insults and offensive comments are part and parcel of his life as a politician, Cassola told the court, but threats of violence and death were where he drew the line. Muscat is charged with in- sulting and threatening the MEP candidate in a series of Facebook posts. Cassola ex- hibited printouts of the posts, one of them a screenshot from a video of the dancing pall- bearers meme, on with Cas- sola's face is superimposed, together with the words "Rip Cassola" superimposed over the video. The picture had been upload- ed by Muscat to his personal Facebook page, with the cap- tion "Ejja ha nicelebraw (sic)" (come on let's celebrate). The defendant had also post- ed a picture of a toilet in re- ply to one of Cassola's posts, writing "be careful someone doesn't punch you in the face, don't forget you are just an ordinary person, not some minister, there isn't a harsher sentence, so you better leave people alone". "I ignore insults, because everyone has a right to their opinion, but when people threaten violence and death it's a different matter," Cassola told the court this afternoon. Asked whether he had ever seen Muscat before, Cassola said that he hadn't. "I receive hundreds of insults. He used to regularly send me a picture of a rubbish bin with my face in it." The magistrate told defence lawyer Albert Zerafa to look at the pictures exhibited by the police, remarking they dis- gusted her. Cross-examining Cassola, Zerafa asked the witness to confirm that he was complain- ing about the threats, and not the insults. The politician replied that he would receive many but that he had to draw a line, even in public life. The court observed that one of the pictures was of a toi- let with Cassola's face on it. "He must have sent me 200 of those," chuckled the witness. In reply to a question from Zerafa, Cassola said that he hadn't reported those, explain- ing that "for me, the dividing line is violence and death." The court appointed an ex- pert to preserve copies of the Facebook comments on Cassola's profile and other comments made by Jesmond Muscat, and to obtain any identifying information from service providers about the person using the profile. The case was adjourned to May. A 29-year-old man from Ham- run has been accused of inten- tionally crashing into his ex-girl- friend's car, before assaulting her in the street. Tarek Khodir was arraigned before magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo on Tuesday, charged with having, on March 10, caused the woman to fear violence, slightly injuring her, causing voluntary damage, dangerous driving, uttering in- sults and breaching the peace. He was also accused of hav- ing slashed two of the tyres on the woman's car on March 3, allegedly also insulting and threatening her on that occa- sion. Khodir was additionally accused of recidivism. Khodir is alleged to have fol- lowed the victim's car as she left her place of residence on March 3, driving behind her. The police say that at one point, Khodir crashed his car into hers, before beating her up in the street when she had emerged from the vehicle. He had been handed a sus- pended sentence in In 2016 after being convicted of sever- al thefts, but that punishment was later reduced to a proba- tion order and community ser- vice after an appeal. Two years later, in 2018, Khodir was back in court, accused together with another man, with having tasered a farmer as he stood in his field, while stealing from him The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges. Lawyer Benjamin Valenzia, assisting the Khodir as defence coun- sel, requested bail, which was objected to by the prosecuting police inspector Audrey Mi- callef. Bail was denied due to the potential risk of tampering with evidence, as well as be- cause of the serious nature of the offences with which Kho- dir was charged. Lawyer Marita Pace Dimech appeared parte civile for the victim. Cassola tells court he felt threatened by social media comments Bail denied for man charged with crashing into ex-girlfriend's car, beating her up The accused is alleged to have followed the victim's car as she left her home, driving behind her before crashing into her car and beating her up in the street 29-year-old Tarek Khodir from Hamrun has been accused of intentionally crashing into his ex-girlfriend's car, before assaulting her in the street (Photo: Facebook)