University professor Lino Briguglio was charged yesterday with inciting racial hatred, while former European Parliament candidate for Malta Damian Iwueke was charged with threatening and insulting him.

The two men appeared before magistrate Dennis Montebello during the Valletta district sitting, after both men filed criminal complaints against each other.

Testifying in court, Mr Iwueke said that on 20 May 2005, Prof. Briguglio had asked two of his (Mr Iwueke’s) friends to leave the library at the Foundation for International Studies on the basis of the colour of their skin.

Mr Iwueke, who is denying the charges against him, said he was speaking to one of the men in the foundation’s library, when he heard shouting in the reception area. He said Prof. Briguglio was asking the other Nigerian man to leave.

He added that when Prof. Briguglio called the police, they (the police) did not ask the boys to leave, but simply told them to get on with what they were doing and leave when they were ready.

“When I asked Prof. Briguglio why he was asking the Nigerians to leave, he told me not to ask any more questions, otherwise I should leave too,” Mr Iwueke told the court. He said that after the incident had taken place, Prof. Briguglio had purposely tried to intimidate him in front of other staff members.

The two Nigerians who were involved in the incident are Maczerob Okoro and Uchanna Anywanna, both of whom are footballers.

In his testimony, Prof. Briguglio, the foundation’s chief executive officer, told the court that at the time Mr Iwueke worked as a librarian at the foundation. He said that when he asked him the purpose of his Nigerian friends’ visit, he told him it was none of his business.

The professor, who is also denying the charges brought against him, said that since Mr Iwueke’s friends were not there for reasons related to the foundation, he told them to leave.

He added that Mr Iwueke said to him: “These are my people, leave them alone”. He told the court that Mr Iwueke had also threatened to kill him.

“Mr Iwueke said to me ‘Malta is not big enough for you and me’, in the context of very threatening language, and he also mentioned my family,” said Prof. Briguglio.

Following the incident, Mr Iwueke was suspended and later dismissed from his job.

Mr Iwueke testified that what he had told Prof. Briguglio was that Malta is not big enough for him (Mr Iwueke) to find another job and asked him how he was going to sustain his family. He said he did not want to lose the job he loved, and which he had been doing for 18 years.

Mr Okoro and Mr Anywanna testified that when Prof. Briguglio told them to leave, they asked whether he wanted them to leave because they were black, to which he replied: “Yes, leave”.

Charles Massa, who also works at the foundation, testified that Mr Iwueke had started shouting at Prof. Briguglio and had said to him: “If you take any action against me, I will harm you and your family. Malta is not big enough for both of us”.

At the end of yesterday’s sitting, magistrate Montebello ruled that he was deferring the case for judgement.

Police Inspector Alfred Mallia prosecuted. Dr Leslie Cuschieri and Dr Daniela Mangion appeared for Mr Iwueke, while Dr Hugh Peralta appeared for Prof. Briguglio.