A magistrate who acquitted the owner of a “gentlemen’s club” of running a brothel and of employing a person without the necessary permits pointed out that existing laws were unclear when it came to immoral acts, and failed to account for such clubs.

The case dates back to 23 January, 2011, when the police carried out a raid on gentlemen’s clubs around Paceville, including Marco Bonnici’s Deja Vu, where they came across a Romanian woman dancing topless.

She was found to have been working at the club only for the previous three hours, and was not registered as Mr Bonnici’s employee. As a result, Mr Bonnici was charged over illegal employment, as well accused of running a brothel.

Magistrate Edwina Grima noted that while clubs such as the one owned by Mr Bonnici offered erotic services, it could not be considered as a brothel. But she pointed out that the law in question mentioned establishments used “for the purpose of prostitution or other immoral purposes.”

The magistrate argued that while there was no doubt that the dance witnessed by the police was an immoral act – rejecting the defence’s argument that it was not, backed by the provision of erotic magazines it had purchased locally – immoral acts were not necessarily illegal.

As for the illegal employment of the woman, the defence insisted that she was self-employed: the magistrate herself observed that such arrangements appeared to be common in gentlemen’s clubs.

She thus acquitted Mr Bonnici of both charges.

Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi, Shazoo Ghaznavi and Robert Galea appeared for the accused.