Man denies raping three women in dramatic accusation

A man has been remanded in custody for allegedly raping three women in different massage parlors in an eventful prosecution.

Harona Conateh, a 32-year-old Gambian from Qormi, appeared in court before Judge Donatella Frendo Dimech on Tuesday. She was accused of three counts of rape involving three different victims in three different massage parlors in Sliema and Birkirkara.

Sources familiar with the investigation say Conateh tied up one of his victims and then raped her in the massage parlor where she worked.

Police patrols were instructed to look for the suspect, whose appearance they had identified through informants and CCTV footage which showed the same person in the area where the alleged rapes had taken place. He was eventually spotted by a patrol on Qormi Road in Hamrun and taken into custody.

The police then searched the man’s apartment and found the clothing seen in the surveillance footage.

But before the arraignment could begin, Conateh attacked a police officer guarding him in the corridor outside the courtroom, who removed the man’s handcuffs before racing down the corridor.

The man only managed to get a few metres before he was overpowered and detained by police officers. Even after he was handcuffed, he continued to scream and fight with the police officers. This caused such a commotion that the judge left the courtroom to assess the situation for herself.

Conateh was eventually brought under control and handcuffed and shackled. Due to his behavior, the court ordered that the defendant wear handcuffs in the courtroom.

Before he was escorted into the courtroom a few minutes later, the lawyer assisting Conateh, Ilona Schembri, informed the court that her client was asking to be taken back to Gambia. “Of course. You can tell him that I will even drive him there personally,” the court replied, before pointing out that since the man only had a “permesso di soggiorno” as his identification document, he was not even entitled to bail.

When the prosecution finally began, the scandal continued. Conateh told the court he was 20 years old, but the prosecution pointed out that his birth date, according to his records, was February 2, 1992 – making him 32 years old.
The defendant stated through an interpreter that this was not the correct date and that the date was a “mistake”. However, he could not exchange his passport.

When asked by the court, Conateh was unable to give his date of birth. He also could not remember the month of his birth.

“Look. You can’t tell me you don’t know your birth month,” said the judge. “Hasn’t your family ever told you?”
“My family is in Gambia,” the witness replied, before suggesting that the court call his family and ask them.

The judge ordered the prosecution to open his mobile phone, which was seized as evidence, and ask the man to call his family immediately. However, the man refused, saying he could not remember the password for the device.

An interpreter explained that the defendant refused to unlock his mobile phone in the presence of police, citing privacy concerns. The man relented and told police his access code after the court explained to him that it would hire an expert to crack the password using “brute force.”

It was found that, according to his Facebook account, he was 16 years old and had given his date of birth as 2008. The court ordered that the man’s age should initially be based on the age stated in his passport.

Finally, the main hearing was conducted, during which the man explained to the court that he “works in the road construction industry for Polidano”.

After making sure that the defendant understood what he was accused of, the court asked him what he had to say about the charge.
“He said he didn’t do it, and there is a case where he paid money but didn’t do it,” the Gambian interpreter replied incomprehensibly.

“Does he plead guilty or not guilty?” yelled the judge, her patience at an end.
The defense attorney pleaded not guilty. No bail was requested.

“I want to return to my country,” Conateh then told the court. The court, now calm, asked the interpreters to “explain to the gentleman that he must face this trial in Malta before he can return to Gambia.”

The judge explained that evidence must be heard first. “Yes, this is a process that takes time. It is a case that will be decided by a jury.”

Conateh said in court that he had paid money, “but only for a massage.” The prosecution assured the court at the time that there was overwhelming evidence that, as the court later put it, he “wanted and got much more than a massage.”

He asked the court to help him “so that the prosecutor or whoever can forgive him,” the interpreter explained. His lawyer asked the court to record this statement.

The interpreter was called to the stand and asked to repeat his statements for the record. “He said he was not guilty. Then he said he wanted to ask the court to help him so they could forgive him.”

“For what?” asked the judge. “The charges against him,” was the answer. “His pictures are there,” said the interpreter, referring to video recordings of the attacks.

In the case, the files were remanded to the clerk of the court so that they could be assigned to a justice of the peace for evidence.

After the hearing, the man was heard outside the courtroom asking the police officers accompanying him to send him to Gambia and asking him to call his wife.

The police will decide whether further charges will be brought in connection with today’s escape attempt.

Prosecutors Angele Vella and Nicholas De Gaetano of the Attorney General’s Office assisted Police Inspectors Clayton Camilleri, Brian Xuereb and Wayne Buhagiar.