Libyan murder suspect and former Gaddafi soldier, absconds

Criminal proceedings against a Libyan man accused of several brutal murders, and other violent crimes, remain stuck after the defendant seemingly vanished while on bail.

This emerged as the compilation of evidence against Ramzi Abdulhafid Ib Abukem, in connection with the 2017 murder of Mahmoud Elmejdi in Hamrun, continued before Magistrate Yana Micallef Stafrace on Monday.

When the case was called, Homicide Squad inspector Wayne Camilleri informed the court that the defendant was still on the run.

Ib Abukem, a former soldier in Gaddafi’s army, had managed to slip under the police’s radar some time in 2022 and has likely absconded from Malta. The police have, in fact, issued an international arrest warrant for the fugitive murder suspect. 

There are unconfirmed rumours that he has returned to Libya, other accounts say he has been murdered.

He is believed to have also been a friend of Samurai sword enthusiast Mohammed Al Mushraty, of ‘Lilu King’ fame, who was arraigned on drug trafficking, money laundering and organised crime charges last Friday. 

Sources say Ib Abukem and Al Mushraty were both soldiers in the Libyan army who had fled the country after the fall of the Gaddafi regime, which they had supported. The two are understood to have subsequently fallen out and are no longer thought to be friends.

Ib Abukem first appeared in court in January 2016, charged together with another man, with the attempted murder of a fellow countryman in Swieqi, in a stabbing allegedly motivated by the political turmoil and infighting between rival Libyan governments at the time.

Five months later, he was back in court, charged with the attempted murder of three Paceville bouncers. A Samurai sword was allegedly used in the attack.

The following year, Ib Abukem was charged again, this time with committing aggravated theft and cocaine possession.

In May 2018, Ib Abukem was charged with his second murder after being accused, together with Hamza Kamen Bakoush, of beating and stabbing fellow Libyan national Mahmoud Elmejdi to death on a Hamrun street in 2017. Bakoush is currently serving time in prison for other crimes.

Later that year, Ib Abukem was once again in court, charged with robbing a man at knifepoint inside a St. Paul’s Bay bar and cocaine possession, whilst out on bail.

In 2019 Ib Abukem faced two separate arraignments in the same month. He was first accused of robbing a family and being in possession of an illegal firearm.

He was granted bail on 7 August, only to be arrested 12 days later after allegedly robbing an elderly woman at knifepoint.

In April 2022, Ib Abukem had also been arrested in connection with the murder of Mario Farrugia who was found dead in a car in Ħal Qormi, but was not charged after evidence emerged showing that he was not involved. Abukem was, however, a prosecution witness in that case.

Last year the Malta Police Force made a public plea for information about Ib Abukem’s whereabouts, but he is still yet to be traced.