Jury clears former soldier in Lassana Cisse killing

More than seven years after Lassana Cisse was shot dead while walking home in Ħal Far, a jury has cleared former soldier Lorin Scicluna of his murder.

Sunday evening’s 8–1 acquittal followed almost two weeks of testimony about the April 2019 killing, which prompted outrage across Malta and scrutiny of racism towards migrants.

The verdict also cleared Scicluna of the attempted murder of three other men. Fellow former soldier Francesco Fenech faces separate proceedings arising from the killing.

Cisse, a 42-year-old father of two from Ivory Coast, was returning from watching football when he was killed on Triq il-Ġebel, between Ħal Far and Birżebbuġa.

At the centre of the trial were competing accounts of Scicluna’s responsibility for the shooting. Prosecutors alleged a racist attack, while Scicluna maintained that Fenech opened fire without warning.

Scicluna acknowledged driving the car that night. He told jurors the pair had intended to shoot cats and had removed the vehicle’s number plates and left their phones behind.

He claimed Fenech threatened to shoot him when he objected to the attack.

His testimony also included an admission that they had previously sought out Black people in Ħal Far to harass.

Prosecutors questioned his credibility, citing his initial denial of involvement and his claim that someone else had borrowed his car.

They also pointed to CCTV linking his white Toyota Starlet to the area and the recovery of the firearm beneath his bed.

The defence argued that those circumstances did not prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Madam Justice Natasha Galea Sciberras told jurors that criminal responsibility did not depend solely on who fired: a shared intention to kill could establish complicity in murder.

She directed them to decide Scicluna’s case on its evidence, reminding them that Fenech was not the defendant before them. His separate case remains pending.