Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/832512
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 4 JUNE 2017 8 TIM DIACONO A warden brutally assaulted a businessman who had filmed him hiding behind a roundabout and taking down notes of passing cars in Gharghur. An 18-second video clip of Igor Samardziski delivering a punch to a warden by the popu- lar roundabout at Tal-Balal went viral back in March and many, including then justice minister Owen Bonnici, took to social me- dia to condemn the assault. However, testimony presented in court on Wednesday during the case against the 34-year-old Serbian – who has been charged with assaulting and slightly injur- ing the warden, 51-year-old Pat- rick Paul Attard – paints a com- pletely different version of events. The person who had filmed the ordeal, Matthew Zammit, a mo- tor mechanic who operates a re- pair shop near the roundabout, has testified that he had started to film the incident after seeing the warden beating up Samardziski, but only succeeded in capturing the latter's retaliation to the war- den's assault. He said that the warden had struck Samardziski multiple times, first in the neck and face and then managed to hit his mo- bile phone out of his hands with the second blow, prompting the Serb to try to pick it up from the ground. While Samardziski was trying to pick up his phone, the war- den attacked him again, this time grabbing him by the shirt, and Samardziski headbutted the war- den in retaliation. At this point the men got into a fight, the wit- ness said. Asked by Samardziski's lawyer whether he had filmed the whole altercation, Zammit said that he only managed to film the very end of it as it took some time to grab his phone and start film- ing. "Igor kept trying to leave, but the warden kept trying to go for him. To hold him, run after him, to hit him," Zammit said. Lawyer Alfred Abela, who is ap- pearing parte civile for Attard, asked if Samardziski had been filming when he approached the warden. "I don't know if he was filming but his mobile was up," Zammit said. "I heard him say from across the street that it is illegal to be standing there hiding behind the cars. He was talking to the war- den, he wasn't arguing." MaltaToday is informed that Samardziski, the CEO of a promi- nent software development com- pany, had filmed the incident while he was walking to work as part of his training to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for charity. Indeed, Samardziski is a philan- thropist – his business sponsors several local NGOs and his staff, as well as himself, frequently take part in clean ups at Maltese beaches and the countryside. The witness added that, after Samardizki walked away from the scene, the warden's first reaction was to pull out his mobile, make calls and afterwards follow the man apace. MaltaToday is also informed that 50 metres down that same road, Samardziski was jumped on by the warden and another man. The second man pinned Sa- mardziski to the floor, as Attard kicked him repeatedly in the face and abdomen. This corroborates a photo of Samardsiski's face, which is clearly marked with the warden's bootprint. During the sitting on Wednes- day, the warden's alleged accom- plice, Jimmy Galea, was called in by the prosecution to testify against Samardziski. However, following the magistrate's expla- nation that his testimony may be used to incriminate himself if he was part of any wrongdo- ing, Galea declined to testify and recused himself from the court- room. The case is being heard by Mag- istrate Grazio Mercieca, while in- spector Elton Taliana is prosecut- ing, lawyers Giannella de Marco, Stephen Tonna Lowell and Gi- anluca Caruana Curran are de- fence counsel to Samardziski, and lawyer Alfred Abela is appearing parte civle for the warden. The case continues in Septem- ber. tdiacono@mediatoday.com.mt News Warden brutally assaulted businessman who filmed him playing dirty Man wrecks car in Birkirkara argument Eyewitness testifies in court that a warden had attacked a man who had filmed him 'playing hide and seek' behind a roundabout A Hyundai Lantra was vandalised yesterday morning by a man report- ed to be the car's former owner. The police were called to the site where the car was found, close to the Birkirkara bus ter- minus. According to witnesses, the unidentified man had agreed to sell his car to a second person who in turn had not registered himself as the car's own- er, and who failed to pay the original owner the amount which had been agreed upon. The original owner, having decided that he was no longer able to use the vehicle, decided to take matters into his own hands and to vandalise the car. The car had a number of visible dents and had had all its windows smashed. Samardziski was jumped on by the warden and another man. The man pinned Samardziski to the floor as Attard kicked him in the face and abdomen Igor Samardziski Police officers inspect the vandalised car in Birkirkara