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Hotel worker says he groped colleague ‘as a joke’
Court grants Ivorian working 112-hour week at hotel bail on sexual harassment charge.
28 May 2013, 12:00am
Chris Mangion
Chris Mangion
1 min read
A catering employee was charged with the sexual harassment of his colleague, but Ivorian national Ibrahim Ali, 30, today told the court that the incident was a "joke between colleagues".
Ali works as a dishwasher at the La Vallette Resort, where he was accused of groping 19-year-old waitress Svetlana Axiaq. He pleaded not guilty to charges of violent indecent assault and sexual harassment.
Police Inspector Luke Bonello said Axiaq claimed that Ali unbuttoned her shirt and groped her breasts in an incident inside the hotel resort that took place on 26 May, at 10:10pm. The police arrested Ali the next day.
Inspector Bonello told the court that the victim claimed that the accused had been pestering her to sleep with him and this was not the first time he had groped her or behaved indecently in her regard.
Defence lawyer Dr Andrew Sciberras pleaded with the court to grant the accused bail as there was no fear that he absconds. The prosecution argued that since both the accused and the victim work at the same place, bail should not be granted in order to safeguard the victim's testimony.
Magistrate Anthony Vella held that the court could not keep a person under arrest just because he works with the victim. Ali, who was said he worked seven days a week from 7am to 11pm with only a three-hour break, was granted bail against a personal guarantee of €2,000.
The court also issued a protection order in favour of the victim Svetlana Axiaq.
Dr Mary Elise Agius appeared as parte civile on behalf of the victim.
The case continues.
Chris Mangion is MaltaToday’s photojournalist, joining the newspaper in 2013.
In 1995...
John Mifsud •
Surely the length of this man's working day is irrelevant to the case, unless he intends to argue that he had little spare time to look for sex outside his place of employment.
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A serious employer should sack a person who commits such acts. The management of 'La Vallette Resort' has its reputation at stake and should safeguard the safety & security of the female employee. Shame on You .
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It was a joke and we are all laughing at you.
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As Malta does not have any problems of its own, we import this pot pourri of illegal immigrants to introduce a dash of multiculturalism. And as our law courts are not busy enough, we pile on them this mosaic of illegality. Where are the Jesuit Refugee Service, UNHCR, Aditus and other NGOs who want us to integrate with the illegal immigrants?
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Dan Ali nahseb li hu sinjur jahdem 91 siegha fil-gimgha, ghamilhom bis-sitt Euro s-siegha!546 euro fil-gimgha!Imma veru?
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Without going into the merits of this case, I note that this immigrant works 13 hours a day, 7 days a week. Is a 91-hour week legal? How much is he paid? I hope the ETC looks into this.
